Pep Guardiola‘s side found themselves behind at the interval after a superb Vinicius Junior strike found the net, but City battled hard after the break to draw level, with Kevin De Bruyne‘s fierce strike beating compatriot Thibaut Courtois.
Shot-stopper Ederson made two smart saves from Karim Benzema and Aurelien Tchouameni before full-time to preserve the draw at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Rodrigo, who played the entire 90 minutes of the first leg, was delighted with the effort of the whole team.
“Very tough always when you come here. The lads were incredible, the effort was there,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s difficult against this team, because they have a lot of quality. The first 25 to 30 minutes we controlled the game so good. With their first chance they scored an incredible goal.
“We stayed in the game. With our philosophy we didn’t get fazed, we kept playing even though it was difficult.
“I think the key was shooting. Kevin [De Bruyne] found the goal and in the last minutes we struggled a bit to keep the ball, but this is normal.
“[It takes] a lot of concentration. When you lose the ball it’s hard to regain it because they have a lot of quality. The effort of the lads was incredible.”
De Bruyne, who scored in the Champions League semi-final first leg for the third year in a row, had seen two previous long-range efforts saved by Courtois, but at the third time of asking, he drilled the ball into the corner after 67 minutes.
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The Belgian, who was named Player of the Match, now has 11 knockout goals in the competition, the most by any City player in the history of the tournament.
Rodrigo was full of praise for his midfield partner and believes that there is still plenty to play for in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
“He’s a massive player for us,” he declared. “He’s always been great and he helped us in the moment we most needed.
“We were suffering a bit in the second half because they were keeping the ball, but with his goal he gave us the confidence to keep pushing, even though we didn’t get clear chances. It’s a good result for us.
“We knew no matter what happened here this is not the end. We have the second game at home. We will need the people to support us.”
