Vinicius Junior’s fierce strike had the Spanish side ahead at the interval, but Pep Guardiola‘s men levelled through Kevin De Bruyne‘s powerfully driven shot after 67 minutes.
City goalkeeper Ederson was forced into action twice shortly before full-time, expertly denying Karim Benzema and Aurelien Tchouameni to preserve a draw.
Grealish, who was a constant nuisance for the Real Madrid backline, was pleased with the character shown by the City team.
“It shows our character, to go a goal down, it’s always difficult, especially at a place like this, and it was a fair result in the end,” he declared.
“They had their chances, we had a few as well. I really enjoyed it man, I loved it. You can have nerves. These are the nights you play football for. These are the nights you dream of playing in. It’s like a dream come true really.
“I had a text from my mum before the game saying these are the nights you dreamed of as a kid. You pinch yourself.
“We have a new team, with different players from a year ago. One thing is that we’ve learned so much from last year. We have the perfect balance of experience and a few youngsters, like Phil [Foden] and Erling [Haaland]. Youngsters like that who are just world class.
“And then we have the experience. We just have quality. I swear I’ve never felt so confident going onto the pitch and just having these players around me.
“It’s obviously difficult [at Santiago Bernabeu]. They let us have the first pass a few times then they had a high press. So the manager says keep the ball and take touches.
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“Playing against [Dani] Carvajal, I can’t count the amount of times people said to me that you know what he’ll be like. So, listen, it was a good battle, I enjoyed it out there.”
Guardiola‘s men made a confident start under the floodlights and tested Real Madrid shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois multiple times in the opening exchanges, with De Bruyne stinging his palms, before Rodrigo‘s low shot also called the Belgian into action.
However, on a night of few clear-cut chances, De Bruyne rattled in from 22 yards with a ferocious strike, a manner in which Grealish believed would be the only way through a resolute Real Madrid defence.
“They defended really well. We’ve all seen games recently where they conceded a few goals, but I think tonight they defended really well,” he said.
“I said to myself, that we’ll only score from a shot from the edge of the box. We had a few in the first half.
“When it fell to Kev [De Bruyne], it was unbelievable man. We see it every day in training, you wouldn’t choose anyone else for it to fall to.
The draw keeps the tie finely poised heading into the second leg at the Etihad Stadium in eight days and the Englishman is feeling confident ahead of the reverse fixture.
“At the moment, we feel unstoppable at the Etihad. We came here to win, I swear we did.”
