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One of the best rivalries in modern football produced another classic, or you might even say “clásico”, as a 92nd minute Jude Bellingham winner handed Real Madrid a 3-2 win in the first leg of their Champions League knockout playoff against Manchester City.
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The Etihad Stadium was left stunned as English star Bellingham tapped into an empty net to steal victory for the Spanish giants.
Vinicius Junior set up the decisive goal with the Brazilian stealing a pass from Mateo Kovacic that was intended for Rico Lewis, drawing City goalkeeper Ederson out and lobbing him, but the ball was sailing wide before Bellingham got their in time to finish off his teammate’s brilliant work.
It was the first time Real have claimed victory in regular time away at Manchester City – they won on penalties after the second leg of last year’s quarter-final – and they are well-placed to eliminate Pep Guardiola’s side, and book their own place in the Round of 16, in the second leg at the Bernabeu next week.
City led twice, through superstar Erling Haaland on both occasions, and the home crowd were jubilant when his 80th minute goal from a penalty, won by Phil Foden who was brought down just inside the box by a clumsy Dani Ceballos challenge, made it appear as if they may head to Madrid with a lead.
But one of their own academy products that came back to haunt them.
Brahim Diaz, who left City for Real Madrid back in 2019, and had a four-year loan spell at AC Milan, came off the bench to score an 86th minute equaliser.
Diaz pounced on a ball that spilled off Ederson’s chest after a Vinicius Jr. strike, and the 25-year-old slotted it into the far corner, and in a classy touch opted not to celebrate.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said pre-match that his side’s clashes with the Premier League giants “seems like it’s a clásico” due to the quality and frequency of their meetings, like the La Liga leader’s rivalry with Barcelona.
It is only the fourth time that two teams have met in the Champions League in four successive seasons – after Deportivo v Juventus (2000-04), Liverpool v Chelsea (five in a row from 2004-09) and Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (2013-17) – but this battle was arguably Real and City’s spiciest.
It was their first meeting since Real’s infamous Ballon d’Or boycott last October, and the home fans were eager to remind them of it.
A massive banner with a picture of City’s Spanish maestro Rodri kissing the trophy accompanied by the words ‘stop crying your heart out’, in reference to the song by big City fans Oasis, was unveiled in the terraces before kick off.
Rodri, who is sidelined with an ACL injury, was even spotted capturing a photo of the banner on his phone, while Real’s sensational forward Vinicius Jr., who they believe was the deserved winner, was met with boos and jeers every time he was involved in play.
The noise did not seem to bother the Brazilian however as he was superb all night, but went without the reward of getting on the score sheet despite his impressive creativity.
He released Kylian Mbappe in the 11th minute but Edersen pulled off an excellent save.
One minute later he again almost had an assist but Nathan Ake cleared Ferland Mendy’s shot off the line, and shortly after he may have been awarded a penalty if not for the offside flag being raised, and later in the half a deflected shot of his hit the crossbar.
Real’s electricity in the front half made them look the more threatening of the two sides early, but it was City who scored first through who else but Haaland in the 19th minute.
Jack Grealish, who was subbed off after a half an hour with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, lobbed an excellent ball into the box to Josko Gvardiol who chested it down to Haaland and the Norwegian goal scoring machine calmly put the ball over Thibaut Courtois with his left foot.
There was a lengthy VAR check for offside, but the video referee eventually awarded Haaland his first goal against Real Madrid, in his fifth attempt.
Completing a brace later also added further to his remarkable Champions League record with 49 goals from 48 matches.
City took a 1-0 lead into the break but there easily could have been more goals as a Manuel Akanji header from a Kevin De Bruyne corner hit the bar, and Mbappe squandered a late chance by launching a shot over the bar.
The French superstar made up for it in the 60th minute, however, as a complete miskick sailed into the back of the net to equalise.
Federico Valverde blasted a free kick into the City defensive wall, but the ball rebounded to Dani Ceballos who put a superb dink pass over the top to Mbappe inside the box and his acrobatic volley came off his shin, but a wrongfooted Ederson could only watch as it slowly looped into the far corner.
The second half momentum was mainly with the visitors as Bellingham also had a couple of near misses, and having had almost double the amount of shots, 20 to 11, they could not help but feel like they should be returning home with a lead.
But they were eventually rewarded for their persistence with Diaz and Bellingham’s late goals.
– Clinical PSG, Juve and Dortmund lead –
PSG put one foot in the Round of 16 with a dominant 3-0 victory away at fellow Ligue 1 side Brest.
The hosts were always up against it with the Parisian giants boasting a 31 game unbeaten run against them, Brest’s last victory came in a league match in 1985, and the visitors put the foot down from the start.
Vitinha converted a penalty in the 21st minute to open the scoring before Ousmane Dembele continued his stunning recent form with a brace either side of half time.
The Frenchman has now scored 18 goals in his last 11 games in all competitions for PSG, making him the most prolific goal scorer in Europe’s big five competitions since the start of December.
The second leg will be held at Paris’ Parc de Princes next week.
Elsewhere, a 82nd minute Samuel Mbangula winner handed Juventus a 2-1 win in Turin against Dutch outfit PSV.
Weston McKennie opened the scoring for the Italian giants, but Ivan Perisic levelled shortly after half time.
Borussia Dortmund had a comfortable win away in Portugal against Sporting CP with a 3-0 victory courtesy of goals to Serhou Guirassy, Pascal Grob and Karim Adeyemi.
