UCL: Bellingham’s late winner gives Madrid first leg advantage over City

Erling Haaland scored twice but could not prevent Manchester City from succumbing to a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) play-off encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Norwegian proved his scoring prowess against the might of Real Madrid, the current UCL champions, who showed their wealth of experience to come from a goal down for the victory on the back of goals by Kylian Mbappe, Brahim Diaz and England’s Jude Bellingham.

Both sides finished abysmally in the preliminary stage, with Real Madrid in 11th position while Man City was 22nd on the 36-team table, and are offered a lifeline into the round of 16 stages via the play-offs, and the visitors look primed to take advantage.

Real Madrid looked the likelier side to score early on, but an offside call cancelled a penalty shout, while Ferland Mendy saw his effort blocked as City looked rattled.

It was Pep Guardiola’s side that took the lead against the run of play on 19 minutes when Haaland finished off a team move, the giant striker slotted Josko Gvardiol’s pass into the corner for 1-0 to the hosts, his first ever goal against Real Madrid.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side responded positively, with Vinicius Jr.’s effort tipped onto the bar and Rodrygo’s shot blocked, and both sides continued to exchange chances as the home team maintained its lead at the break.

Haaland hit the post in the first minute of the second half, but Real Madrid drew level on the hour. Mbappe’s miskick looped into the net for 1-1.

Real Madrid continued to threaten, but it was City who put their noses in front again, this time from the penalty spot after Dani Ceballos brought down Foden. Haaland stepped up to send Thibaut Courtois the wrong way for the second of the night.

Real Madrid have gained notoriety as comeback kings in the UCL by scoring late in matches, and it was de ja vu for City on the night as the 15-time UCL champions scored twice in quick succession.

Diaz, on as a substitute, finished off on the rebound to restore parity in 88 minutes before Bellingham broke Manchester’s hearts with the winner two minutes into added time.

The result puts Real in control of the tie going into the second leg next week at the Santiago Bernabeu.

In other matches, Ousmane Dembele scored a brace in Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 win at fellow French side Brest, while Karin Adeyemi, a German international of Nigerian heritage, scored the final goal in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-0 win at Sporting Lisbon.

RESULTS

Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid
Brest 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Juventus 2-1 PSV Eindhoven
Sporting Lisbon 0-3 Borussia Dortmund