Manchester City vs Real Madrid Review
Jude Bellingham netted a last-minute goal in the 92nd minute, leading Real Madrid to a 3-2 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League knockout round play-off, marking their first win at the Etihad Stadium within regular time. The City fans ignited the rivalry with a “stop crying your heart out” chant directed at Vinícius Júnior and his team before the match began. Vinícius Júnior was left astonished when a penalty was denied due to an offside call in the early minutes of the game. He then delivered an excellent pass to Kylian Mbappé, whose shot was saved, and Nathan Aké later thwarted Ferland Mendy after Vinícius had set him up.
After emerging from that phase unscathed, City took the lead with a brilliant play that ended with Erling Haaland scoring his first goal against Los Blancos, thanks to Joško Gvardiol who set him up with a chest pass. In response, Vinícius had a shot that deflected and hit the crossbar, but Pep Guardiola faced a setback when Jack Grealish had to leave the game due to injury after a strong start. The opportunities continued as Phil Foden, Grealish’s substitute, tested Thibaut Courtois, and Manuel Akanji’s header also struck the crossbar. Federico Valverde came close to scoring at the other end, while Mbappé shot over the goal before halftime.
Akanji was substituted at halftime after struggling physically, but the action didn’t slow down as Haaland’s shot was deflected onto the crossbar by Eduardo Camavinga. Vinícius then maneuvered past substitute Rico Lewis and sent in a cross that Jude Bellingham headed wide. Ederson saved Mbappé’s quick attempt, and Gvardiol made a fantastic tackle to stop the forward. However, Mbappé managed to equalize in the 60th minute, despite not making perfect contact with Dani Ceballos’ chipped pass, catching Ederson off guard and setting the stage for an exciting finish.
After assisting the equalizer, Ceballos gave away a penalty for his foul on Foden, allowing Haaland to convert and put the hosts back in the lead. However, this advantage was short-lived, as Ederson saved a shot from Vinícius, leading to a rebound that Brahim Díaz capitalized on to score against his old team just two minutes after coming on.
Vinícius then took advantage of the hosts’ hesitation by driving forward and setting up Bellingham to score, securing Real Madrid’s fourth consecutive UCL victory and giving them a lead to take back to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. In contrast, Man City has only managed to win one of their last six matches in European competitions.
