NEW DELHI: Real Madrid twice overcame deficits to defeat Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of their highly anticipated Champions League play-off match on Tuesday, with Jude Bellingham scoring the game-winning goal in stoppage time. Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain dominated an all-French match against Brest.
Erling Haaland’s double versus Madrid, his first goals in five games, appeared to have given Pep Guardiola’s team a little lead, but the defending European champions are now heavy favorites to advance to the round of 16 going into next week’s return leg in Spain.
“It was a weird one. We played some of our best football of the season and ended up behind,” Bellingham told Amazon Prime.
“I don’t care what form City are in they are still an unbelievable team. It’s always tricky to play against them and we finally took the chance at the end.”
City and Madrid have faced off in the competition’s knockout round for the fourth straight season; in their last three meetings, the victor has gone on to win the Champions League trophy.
After Josko Gvardiol chested down a cross from Jack Grealish, Haaland drove past Thibaut Courtois to give City the lead in the 19th minute, capping off a sluggish start at the Etihad.
Haaland was denied a second goal shortly after halftime when his deflected shot bounced against the wall, and Madrid’s Vinicius Junior struck the crossbar before City defender Manuel Akanji followed suit with a header.
Dani Ceballos clipped the ball back into the area where Mbappe’s mishit effort looped into the net after going off his shin and leaving Ederson stranded, giving Madrid the equalizer an hour after the City wall repelled a free-kick.
After Ceballos clattered Phil Foden, Haaland tucked away a penalty to give City the lead again ten minutes from the end.
However, after a terrible Ederson kick in the 86th minute, former City player Brahim Diaz tied the score for Madrid. Bellingham then punished the home team for more dubious defending when the England midfielder scored the game-winning goal in the dying seconds.
“I don’t know how to put it into words straight away, it’s so raw and frustrating for everyone,” said City defender John Stones.
“It’s a feeling of anger and frustration,” he added. “We need to see games out better. We need to step up when these bad moments happen.”
Ousmane Dembele scored twice for PSG in a 3-0 victory over Brest in France, continuing his incredible goal-scoring run.
Following a VAR review for a handball by Pierre Lees-Melou, a midfielder for Brest, Vitinha scored a penalty.
Brest came very close to tying the dominant Ligue 1 leaders twice while playing an hour away in Guingamp due to their own stadium’s noncompliance with UEFA regulations.
While trying to knock the ball behind for a corner, Achraf Hakimi grazed the other upright, and Abdallah Sima hammered a header against the post.
After a brilliant team play, Dembele swept past Marco Bizot at his near post to score PSG’s second goal just before halftime.
Halfway through the second half, the France international scored again with the help of a deflection, giving him 18 goals in his last 11 games.
“Ousmane is full of confidence just now. He was good in 2024 and he is even better in 2025,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique.
In the first leg of their match in Turin, Juventus defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-1 at home.
In the first half, US international Weston McKennie gave Juventus the lead before Ivan Perisic tied the score for the Netherlands.
In the 82nd minute, Samuel Mbangula scored a close-range goal to give Juventus the victory.
Borussia Dortmund defeated Sporting Lisbon 3-0 on the road, putting them on the verge of the round of 16.
On sixty minutes, Pascal Gross scored a second goal for the runners-up from the previous season, and Serhou Guirassy’s soaring header gave the German team the advantage.
Following Nuri Sahin’s dismissal at the end of January, new coach Niko Kovac secured his first victory with a late third from Karim Adeyemi.
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