Real Madrid Falls Behind But Doesn’t Lose to Manchester City
Once again, Real Madrid, the Spanish title holder, pulled off a stunning comeback in a high-stakes UEFA Champions League clash, overturning a deficit against Manchester City to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory in stoppage time in the first leg of the playoff qualifying for the Round of 16.
It seemed City would head to the Spanish capital with a one-goal advantage, leading 2-1 thanks to a brace from Norwegian star Erling Haaland until the 86th minute, while Real’s only goal had come from their French jewel, Kylian Mbappé. However, substitute Brahim Díaz made an immediate impact less than two minutes after coming on, leveling the score for Los Blancos. Known for their relentless comebacks on the European stage, Madrid completed the turnaround in the dying moments, as Englishman Jude Bellingham capitalized on a defensive error to net the winner in the 93rd minute.
After an intense first leg full of chances and goals, the two teams will meet again at the Santiago Bernabéu next Wednesday for the second leg of what has become a modern Champions League classic. This marks the fourth consecutive season they have faced off, reinforcing their strong presence in the competition, especially in the past two seasons when Real Madrid succeeded Manchester City as champions.
Paris and Dortmund Showcase Offensive Power
Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund took significant strides toward the Round of 16 with commanding 3-0 away victories—PSG against fellow French side Brest and Dortmund over Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon. Meanwhile, Juventus secured a 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven.
The reigning French champions once again benefited from the brilliance of Ousmane Dembélé, who scored twice (45’ and 66’) after Portuguese midfielder Vitinha had opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 21st minute.
PSG coach Luis Enrique commented, “There are no easy matches against Brest. The second leg won’t be a training session; our goal is to win again and advance.”
The Spanish manager also noted that the final score “may have been a bit exaggerated compared to how much Brest made us suffer. They could have scored, especially from set-pieces, but we were lucky,” referring to Senegalese forward Abdallah Sima’s header that struck the right post in the 35th minute when the score was still 1-0.
With this victory, PSG extended their unbeaten streak to 15 matches across all competitions, recording 13 wins and two draws.
Meanwhile, Dortmund dominated Sporting with goals from Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy (60’), who took his tally to 10 as the competition’s top scorer, Pascal Groß (68’), and Karim Adeyemi (82’).
Juventus replicated their earlier success against PSV, securing a 2-1 victory through a stunning long-range strike by American Weston McKennie (34’) and a close-range finish from Belgian substitute Samuel Mbangula, who pounced on a rebound from goalkeeper Walter Benítez after a cross from another substitute, Portuguese Francisco Conceição (82’).
Croatian veteran Ivan Perišić scored PSV’s only goal with a left-footed strike from the right side of the box (56’). The two sides had previously met in the competition this season, with Juventus winning 3-1 in Turin.
Later today, four more matches will take place in the same round: Atalanta visits Club Brugge, AC Milan faces Feyenoord in Rotterdam, Monaco hosts Benfica, and Bayern Munich travels to Scotland to face Celtic.
