Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior said "everyone knows" Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus fouled Sergio Ramos in scoring the crucial equaliser in City's 2-1 Champions League win at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.

The visitors were trailing 1-0 to Isco's second-half goal in the round-of-16 first-leg match when Jesus beat Madrid captain Ramos in the air to head Kevin De Bruyne's cross past Thibaut Courtois.

"Jesus commits the foul, and everyone knows it was a foul," Vinicius said, speaking in the mixed zone after the game. "They always take decisions against us. I didn't need to see it again in the dressing room. It was a foul. Every game it's the same."

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane also admitted to speaking with referee Daniele Orsato of Italy about the incident.

"He said there wasn't anything, he hadn't seen anything, there was no push," Zidane said in his post-match news conference. "It's the referee's decision and that's all. What annoys me is what we did, playing well and then 10 minutes at the end changed the game. The mistakes we made, it hurts, we don't deserve it, but that's football. That moment was key."

Gabriel Jesus himself said the referee made the right decision in allowing the goal to stand.

"Football is a contact sport," he told Movistar. "I didn't push him, I barely put my hands on him. It's not a foul."

The Brazilian forward was praised for his performance in an unfamiliar left-wing role by coach Pep Guardiola, who was meeting counterpart Zidane in a competitive game for the first time.

"There isn't another striker in the world to bring that intensity," Guardiola said. "He makes incredible runs in behind. When he's on the wing making a diagonal run, he's so fast and so good. We decided to play without a proper striker because of the way they defend. We made the pitch wide."

Guardiola sounded a note of caution with the second leg to come in Manchester.

"It's still not over," he said. "If there's one team in the world that can overcome it, it's [Real Madrid] with their experience and their history. Hopefully we can give a good performance and go through."