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

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

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

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

The Bernabeu crowd voiced its discontent with manager Xabi Alonso, jeering throughout the match as Madrid continued a poor run of form, having now won just two of its last eight games across all competitions.

“It wasn’t enough, we go away very frustrated. We had a great first half, we wanted to start strong, we scored… we need to improve,” Rodrygo told Movistar Plus.

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

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 came 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 sluggish in the opening half-hour, failing to register a shot on target and appearing vulnerable to Madrid’s attacks down the left, with Alvaro Carreras combining well with Vinicius. But Madrid undid its early work with costly defensive errors.

City equalised in the 35th minute from its first real chance — O’Reilly pounced on Courtois’s rebound, and the visiting side grabbed the lead five minutes later, after Rudiger dragged down Haaland inside the box.

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

City finished the first half on the front foot, with Courtois producing excellent saves to deny Haaland and Rayan Cherki from adding to the lead, while Madrid headed into halftime to a chorus of whistles from its frustrated fans.

Guardiola’s side maintained its control after the break, deploying the pace and flair of Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku to stretch Madrid’s defence.

Courtois continued to be the standout performer for Madrid, stopping Foden and Doku in the 51st and 61st minutes respectively, while City was relentless in seeking a killer third goal.

Madrid had chances to equalise — with Endrick coming closest, striking the post in the dying minutes — but was unable to find the breakthrough as the home crowd’s jeers grew louder with every missed opportunity.

“Such a good feeling. To come here, what an atmosphere, what a stadium, so tough to come here, but we got the three points, and that’s the most important thing,” O’Reilly told TNT Sports.

Published on Dec 11, 2025