Benzema scores on his 600th appearance for Real Madrid against Manchester City

Karim Benzema stepped up once again for Real Madrid after scoring his 40th goal of the season on his 600th appearance for the club against Manchester City.

Madrid were blown away in the first half of the Champions League semi-final tie, having conceded quickfire goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus.

Indeed, De Bruyne's opener came with just 94 seconds on the clock, leaving the visitors reeling before Jesus then capitalised on slack defending to slot home.

City continued to carve out a host of openings in search of a potentially tie-killing third goal, but instead, against the run of play, it was Los Blancos who struck next.

To little surprise, it was Benzema who provided the finishing touch. The veteran met Ferland Mendy's cross to the far post, and tucked past Ederson and into the corner.

His effort took him to 13 goals in the competition this season, and also saw him reach a milestone achievement to cap off yet another blistering campaign.

Notably, the red-hot Benzema, 34, became the first player to hit the 40-goal mark for the Spanish heavyweights since Cristiano Ronaldo.

At half-time, BT Sport's pundits were effusive in their praise for his effort, and agreed that he had halved the deficit from out of nothing.

'That's not even a chance for most players,' Rio Ferdinand said. 'It's a hopeful ball in there. This guy, man, at the moment, there's no one near him.'

Meanwhile, Steve McManaman said: 'Madrid slowly started to get into the game. They made a couple of opportunities. But this came out of nothing, really.

'You can't necessarily pick holes in the Manchester City defence. Yes, Mahrez could have cleared it when he went into the tackle.

'Once the ball gets fizzed into the box, you think that's okay. They're set up alright.

'It's just they've got the best centre forward around at the moment. He finishes it really well. It doesn't have to be powerful, it just has to be accurate.'