Real Madrid put themselves in position to reach the Round-of-16 of the UEFA Champions League after coming from behind to edge Manchester City 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to starring displays from Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham on Tuesday night.
In what was the fourth consecutive season where both sides would be facing each other, it was the defending champions who prevailed over the penultimate Champions League title holders.
The drama was taken up a notch before kick-off as City’s supporters mocked Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. by unveiling a banner that read: “Stop crying your heart out” in reference to Rodri beating the Brazilian to the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
In the early exchanges, Vinicius Jr. had a penalty shout turned out by the offside flag before he played a brilliant cross-field pass to Kylian Mbappe whose shot from the near post was saved by Ederson as the visitors started the game brighter.
Which is why it was against the run of play when City took the lead through a lovely team move that saw Erling Haaland find the back of the net after Josko Gvardiol had chested the ball onto his path in the Real Madrid area.
Not dispirited from going behind, Real Madrid continued pressing for a goal, with Vinicius Jr’s shot crashing off the City crossbar although City came close to a second through Manuel Akanji whose header skimmed the Madrid crossbar.
Leading by the lone Haaland goal at the break, City continued to be on the backfoot and duly conceded when Madrid levelled through Kylian Mbappe on the hour mark, with the Frenchman poking home off a dinked pass from Dani Ceballos.
Ceballos would go from provider to villain as City were awarded a penalty after the Spanish midfielder fouled substitute Phil Foden in the box, with Haaland sending Thibaut Courtois the wrong way to re-establish the hosts’ lead.
But City’s lead did not last long as Madrid roared back. Ederson made a save from a Vinicius Jr. shot and the ball bounced kindly to Brahim Diaz’s path, with the Moroccan making no mistake as he netted against his former club in the 82nd minute.
The game was headed for a draw when Los Blancos snatched the winner when Vinicius capitalised on the hosts’ indecision by breaking forward and poking the ball towards goal for Jude Bellingham to slot home in the second minute of stoppage time.
Bellingham’s late winner sets up a thrilling second leg meeting at the Bernabeu in a week’s time as both teams fight for a place in the Champions League last 16.