Khadija Shaw says she was disappointed with the way Manchester City started against Real Madrid and felt the Spanish giants should have won the game even if a late winner was denied by referee Silvia Gasperotti.
City drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the opening match of the 2026-27 Champions League season last week and were forced to settle for a point again on Thursday, drawing 1-1 at home.
Linda Caicedo fired into the far corner to put Madrid ahead in the 29th minute and City could have complained about trailing at the break, having managed just five shots to their visitors’ 11.
However, City came out stronger after the break to equalize in the 51st minute when Shaw, fed by Yui Hasegawa, finished the turn.
City finished the game with 1.69 expected goals (xG) to Madrid’s 0.89, with both teams having 16 shots apiece, although visiting coach Pau Quesada was furious when Silvia Cristobal’s late strike was disallowed, while Gasperotti was whistled after accidentally blocking City’s box outside the Official Pub.
And Shaw felt City would have won the match if they had produced a second-half performance over the 90 minutes.
“I think when you look at the game, we tried better in the second half than we did in the first, and I think that’s something we’ll look at as a team,” Shaw told Disney+.
“We were disappointed that we didn’t win the game, but we definitely fought until the end and that’s good.
“I think we gave them more time in the first half with our pressing. In the second half we stuck and pressed them higher up the pitch and that caused them to make a lot of mistakes.
“I think if we had done that in the first half, it would have been a different game.”
Reflecting on his goal, Shaw added: “When I’m in the box I try to stay calm with the players around me, that’s something we try to build in training.
That’s what he did pic.twitter.com/Oqxb3GGhwO
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) October 1, 2026
“Sometimes it doesn’t come, but most of the time they look for me. I try to be calm, patient and focus on where the goal is.
“With the centre-backs I’m up against, it depends on what they give me. If they give me time and space, I know I can turn and score.”
Thursday’s draw ended City’s seven-match Champions League home winning streak, the longest ever by an English side in the competition.
Although Madrid beat Arsenal 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the 2024-25 season, they have won just one of their 10 games against English teams in the Champions League (3 L 6).
Their win rate against WSL teams is 10%, making it the worst against teams from a given country in the competition (minimum three games).