Real Madrid stunned Manchester City 3-2 in a Champions League instant classic, scoring twice after the 86th minute at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland, who gave City a 1-0 halftime lead, added a second from the penalty spot on 80 minutes after Real Madrid had equalised through a shinned Kylian Mbappe volley.
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The Spanish giants were significantly more dangerous throughout but City edged ahead when Dani Ceballos brought down Phil Foden in the area and Haaland converted nervelessly.
Madrid though kept charging forward and equalised through former City player Brahim Díaz, who seized on poor goalkeeping from Ederson who failed to deal with a shot from Vinicius Junior.
Ederson was also at fault for Jude Bellingham’s winner in added time, when he was caught in no man’s land, allowing the English star to sneak in and turn home Vini Jnr’s chip.
“You’d still have hope at 2-2. But it will be an absolute miracle if Real Madrid don’t go through now. Manchester City’s confidence will be absolutely shattered. It’s almost over – not quite over but almost,” said former England striker Alan Shearer on Amazon Prime.
Bellingham said: “It was a weird one, we managed to play some of our best football of the season and then we were behind. I felt like our performance deserved a win. We were creating a lot of chances and it felt at some point one would land. We were always confident through the game. It’s always nice to take a lead back home.”
The teams have both struggled in the competition this season, finishing outside the automatic play off places. They will meet again in eight days in Madrid to finish the two-legged play-off.
It was Madrid’s first win in six attempts away to City.
The English champions have had an awful season by their recent standards. It was the first time they lost a home game after leading at half time in the Champions League in six years, with 18 wins in that time.
They have conceded seven goals in the final 15 minutes of Champions League matches this season.
“There was a lot of naivety from Manchester City, especially late in the game,” said Wayne Rooney on Amazon. “The players tonight were looking round at each other, almost with a lack of belief in each other, and I think that is a worry for Pep Guardiola.”
Meanwhile Paris Saint-Germain took a big step towards the Champions League round of 16 by beating Brest 3-0 in a first-leg playoff match.
Ousmane Dembele scored twice and Vitinha converted a penalty to put the French champions in control.
Dortmund beat Sporting 3-0 away to all but seal their place in the final 16 while Juventus face a tougher assignment, holding a 2-1 lead over PSV after their home leg thanks to an 82nd minute winner.
Tony Harperhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/02/12/absolutely-shattered-city-fail-to-close-the-deal-again-as-real-madrid-grab-historic-champions-league-win/‘Absolutely shattered’: City fail to close the deal again as Real Madrid grab historic Champions League win
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