Phil Foden reveals ‘special ability’ after ticking Bernabeu goal off bucket list

Phil Foden revealed he ticked an item off his bucket list after scoring at the Bernabeu and declared his long-range strike was one of the best goals he has ever scored.

The midfielder took his tally to a career-best 22 goals this season with a 20-yard strike in Manchester City’s 3-3 draw against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

And Foden believes he has a “special ability” to find the net as he declared himself satisfied with the result, ahead of next week’s second leg at the Etihad Stadium.

He said: “It’s one of the best goals I’ve scored. I always have this special ability in and around the box where I see myself scoring a lot of goals – it’s one of those you practice on the training ground after training. When I received it on the edge of the box, I thought, ‘why not try it?’. Thankfully I got a chance in the game to do that. I made good contact with it and when it went in and in the top corner, I was delighted. It’s one of the best feelings – to score in one of the best stadiums in the world, I can say I’ve ticked it off the bucket list now.

“I seem to be in a good scoring form this year. When you’re scoring, your confidence is really high. Playing a little bit more centrally and in front of goal as well… I put it down to my determination and wanting to score goals. Someone who believes they’re going to score a lot of goals arrive into the box and I always believe – no matter what – I’m going to get a chance in the game and hopefully I can put them away.”

Pep Guardiola’s side had led after two minutes, courtesy of Bernardo Silva, and went 2-1 behind and then 3-2 ahead before Fede Valverde equalised and Foden savoured the match while imagining what it was like for his fellow City supporters.

He added: “It was a brilliant game –one of the best I’ve been involved in. It was a special feeling playing Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. It must have been a dream for fans to watch a game like this. It was such a high-intensity game – maybe we scored too early, we couldn’t really control them and gave a few sloppy balls away. They’re always dangerous on the counter-attack with Vini [Jr] and Rodrygo – they have tremendous pace and skills. They hurt us.

“It was a game of ups and downs. We stayed calm when we went behind and we just played our football, we grew into the game – I feel we’ve come a long way to come here and do what we did. We could have controlled it better when we went 3-2 up but we’re playing one of the best teams in the world. You’re going to make mistakes and it’s about how you react. Even the best teams in the world come here and struggle. It’s not a bad outcome to draw the game – a lot of positives and a lot of things we can work on. We go again now.”