Haaland scores, Mbappe watches from the bench as Man City beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Champions League

Nico O’Reilly’s opportunistic strike and Erling Haaland’s penalty helped Manchester City fight back to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a thrilling Champions League match at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Rodrygo opened the scoring for Madrid, but O’Reilly and Haaland scored in the space of eight minutes to secure full points for City in the Spanish capital.

The victory lifted Pep Guardiola’s side to fourth in the Champions League standings with 13 points from six games, while Madrid dropped to seventh with 12 points after their second straight defeat in all competitions.

The crowd at the Bernabeu expressed their dissatisfaction with manager Xabi Alonso and cheered throughout the match as Madrid continued their poor form, having now won just two of their last eight games in all competitions.

«It wasn’t enough, we leave very frustrated. We had a great first half, we wanted to start strong, we scored… we have to improve,» Rodrygo said. MovistarPlus.

“These games are decided by details, set pieces… that’s why it’s frustrating for us because we train for it and it happens, but we have to keep going anyway.”

Despite missing eight injured players, including top scorer Kylian Mbappe – who only made the bench after skipping training on Tuesday – Madrid started strongly.

After Vinicius Jr. and Federico Valverde had come close to scoring, the breakthrough came in the 28th minute when Rodrygo ended his nine-month scoring drought for Madrid with a low strike into the bottom corner.

City’s response was slow in the first half hour. No shot on target was registered and it looked vulnerable to Madrid’s attacks on the left, with Alvaro Carreras combining well with Vinicius. But Madrid undid its early work with costly defensive mistakes.

City equalized in the 35th minute after the first real chance: O’Reilly pounced on Courtois’ rebound and the visiting team took the lead five minutes later after Rüdiger had dragged Haaland inside the penalty area.

Referee Clement Turpin initially allowed the game to continue, but was advised by the VAR to check the monitor on the field. The German defender’s foul on Haaland was clear, and the Norwegian stepped up to send the penalty with a low shot to Courtois’ right in the 43rd minute, for his first ever goal at the Bernabeu.

City finished the first half ahead, with Courtois producing excellent saves to deny Haaland and Rayan Cherki from increasing the lead, as Madrid went into half-time to a chorus of whistles from frustrated fans.

Guardiola’s side remained in control after the break and used the pace and flair of Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku to stretch Madrid’s defense.

Courtois continued to be the standout performer for Madrid, stopping Foden and Doku in the 51st and 61st minutes respectively as City searched relentlessly for a great third goal.

Madrid had chances to equalize – with Endrick coming closest and hitting the post in the final minutes – but failed to find the breakthrough as the home crowd’s cheers grew louder with each missed opportunity.

«What a good feeling. To come here, what an atmosphere, what a stadium, so difficult to get here, but we got the three points and that’s the most important thing,» O’Reilly said. TNT Sports.

Published on December 11, 2025