Joe Hart the master mind of City's and Madrid' goalless draw.

Manchester City held the Spanish giant Real Madrid to a cagey goalless draw, which only after a fantastic late stop from Joe Hart.

Little more than a spectator for much of this fixture, Hart showed just what a class act he is with two superb stops in the closing stages. There were others on the pitch who showed more sustained excellence over the course of the 90 minutes, but none did so much to impact the outcome. City could have been out of the tie without him.

No question, City were the better team for large chunks of the evening. Vincent Kompany, who had implored them to play the "game of their lives", was in particularly uncompromising mood, while Fernandinho showed great bite in the tackle and Kevin De Bruyne was notably effective too. Despite a number of fine individual performances, they ended up hanging on – can they really expect a second bite at the cherry in the Spanish capital?

The late withdrawal of Cristiano Ronaldo could have thrown doubt on City's plan to keep it tight but for 80 minutes English team stuck resolutely to their script. The visitors threatened to spoil the ending, though, as they finished strongly. Hart denied Casemiro before a terrific point-blank stop to keep Pepe out and City in it.