Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City: Haaland nets winner as visitors complete first-half comeback at Bernabeu
It was only City's second-ever win at Real's iconic stadium
Manchester City completed a first-half comeback as Pep Guardiola’s side beat Real Madrid in the Champions League to heap further pressure on Los Blanco manager Xabi Alonso.
Nico O’Reilly and an Erling Haaland penalty secured a memorable turnaround at the Bernabeu after Rodrygo had ended a record 32-game goal drought for the hosts.
The game was the eighth time in 12 season the two sides had met in Europe’s elite club competition and the result only adds to the heat on Alonso after a run of two wins in their last eight matches in all competitions.
The victory moves Guardiola’s men up to fourth in the 36-team table, while for 15-time champions Real, who were without Kylian Mbappe, remain in the eight automatic qualification spots only on goal difference.
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Rodrygo ends dismal goal drought
Inside two minutes, Vinicius Junior took a tumble following a trip from Matheus Nunes that the referee initially gave as a penalty but VAR soon intervened.
From the resulting free-kick, Federico Valverde’s deflected strike wrongfooted Gianluigi Donnarumma but, thankfully for the Italian goalkeeper, the ball flew just wide.
It was an early warning sign for City. Moments later, a sublime cross-field pass from Rodrygo found compatriot Vinicius in the box, the Real number seven, under pressure from the advancing Donnarumma, lifting his effort off target.
Los Blancos’ two Brazilian attackers were looking threatening. And the danger eventually paid off in the 28th minute when Jude Bellingham found Rodrygo on the edge of the box.
The 24-year-old took a clever touch to beat Nico O’Reilly before firing beyond Donnarumma to end his Real record 32-game goal drought to give the hosts the advantage.
City launch first-half comeback
O’Reilly got revenge seven minutes later, poking home from point-blank range from a corner after Thibaut Courtois could only parry Josko Gvardiol’s header into the path of the young defender.
The first-half comeback was complete shortly before the break after Haaland manhandled to the floor by Antonio Rudiger, leaving the referee with little choice but to award the spot-kick after a quick VAR review.
The prolific Norwegian picked himself up to send Courtois the wrong way to give the visitors the lead and move up to 34 goals for club and country this season.
That was not the end of the drama, however, with the Real keeper being called into action just seconds later, first to deny Haaland and then Rayan Cherki from the follow-up.
After the restart, Bellingham squandered a good chance attempting to chip Donnarumma when squaring the ball may have been the easier option.
With Real in desperate search of a way back into the contest, Courtois saved well from Jeremy Doku before Vinicius headed wide after finding a yard of space in the City box.
Substitute Endrick then saw his header clip the crossbar as City held on to record only their second-ever victory over Real at the Bernabeu.