Jude Bellingham strikes late as Real Madrid beat Manchester City in five-goal thriller
Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
JUDE Bellingham, a virtual spectator to that point, struck a 92nd minute winner for Real Madrid that cancelled out two goals from Erling Haaland and left Manchester City on the brink of elimination from the Champions League.
As the seconds ticked down, a mistake by Rico Lewis let in Vinicus Junior who lobbed the ball past Ederson and allowed Bellingham to speed in and covert into an open goal.
And City, who had twice led through Haaland and were still 2-1 up with four minutes left, were beaten at the death … as they had been on this ground, on penalties, by Real in last season’s quarter-finals.
The lead started to unravel thanks to an 86th minute equaliser from former City junior Brahim Diaz, who responded quickly and covered into an open net after Ederson had saved well from Vinicus Junior.
But City had only themselves to blame for twice squandering the lead and being gifted a second goal which seemed to hand them a real lifeline.
The balance of the tie was certainly slipping from City when Dani Ceballos tripped Phil Foden and Haaland struck his second of the night from the penalty spot on 80 minutes.
Having failed to score in his first four attempts against Real, Haaland now has 49 Champions League goals in 48 games, pushing him into the top ten of all-time scorers … level with Real legend Alfredo Di Stefano, for good measure.
City had already conceded one equaliser, to Kylian Mbappe after 60 minutes which was fortunate, but thoroughly deserved, for Real and whether Haaland has many more ties left in this season’s competition remains to be seen.
The French striker stretched to meet Ceballos’s chipped pass, following a blocked Real free-kick, and mis-hit the ball off his shin, with the unpredictable flight following keeper Ederson and covering defenders.
The opening goal ended Haaland’s record of never having scored against Real, even if he has had few problems scoring against anyone else in a career that looks destined to be one of the most outstanding in Champions League history.
But while goal number 48 was well-worked it was also, in keeping with City’s season, far from straightforward and needed a delay of around four minutes to be confirmed by the semi-automated offside replay.
Josko Gvardiol played a long ball forward which Haaland laid off for Jack Grealish, surprisingly handed a rare start by Guardiola for the biggest game of the season so far.
Grealish swung in a perfect cross, Gvardiol controlled the ball on his chest and Haaland finished clinically, despite his team mate looking offside. After an age, and a matter of millimetres, the tech decided otherwise and City led.
The goal came against the run of play as Real’s Brazilian star Vinicius Junior revelled in his role as public enemy number one with City fans, the legacy of the Ballon d’Or spat.
Real, of course, boycotted the awards ceremony, due to their star being overlooked, in favour of City’s currently injured midfielder Rodri.
Carlo Ancelotti insisted he had no regrets about the snub, Guardiola testily declared the matter shut and City fans, just to re-kindle the feud, unfurled a huge banner next to visiting fans before kick-off that featured an image of Rodri and proclaimed: “Stop crying your heart out.” When the real Real hostilities began, Vinicus was booed every time he touched the ball and looked determined to make his critics pay.
First, he skipped past Ruben Dias and played a superb ball, with the outside of his ballot, to Mbappe whose low shot was well saved by Ederson.
Then he helped set up a chance for Ferland Mendy, blocked by Nathan Ake, and then, after Kevin De Bruyne was caught in possession in the centre circle, Ake was again required to perform some fine defending, to stop Vinicius getting in a shot.
The goal, not surprisingly, enhanced City’s confidence, even after Grealish was forced off with a muscle pull on the half-hour and replaced by Phil Foden.
The substitute did not take long to make an impression, working his way across the face of the Real penalty area before unleashing a powerful shot which Thibaut Courtois parried well.
Raul Asencio made an impressive block to deny Haaland a second, while Manuel Akanji headed just over from a corner, as half-time approached with City in the ascendancy but the tie still delicately balanced.
To prove the point, Real should have been level in its closing moments with another flurry of chances.
Federico Valverde just cleared the bar from the edge of the box, an Mbappe shot was deflected behind by Ake and then the Real number nine missed his best chance of the half, leaning back and planting a 16-yard effort well over the bar. Ancelotti’s reaction on the touchline said it all about that particular miss.
Duly reprieved, Haaland might have doubled the lead soon after the restart, clipping the cross-bar from a sharp De Bruyne pass and there was an unavoidable notion that City required at least one more goal ahead of next week’s second leg.
Real, with their first attack of the half, proved the point as Vinicus skipped past substitute Rico Lewis and crossed for Jude Bellingham, who should have done better than glance his effort wide. Mbappe maintained the pressure with a first-time shot well saved by Ederson.
Ederson 7; Akanji 5 (Lewis 46, 6), Dias 5, Ake 7 (Kovacic 60, 5), Gvardiol 7; Stones 5, Silva 6; Savinho 5 (Marmouish 84), De Bruyne 6 (Gundogan 84), Silva 5, Grealish 7 (Foden 30, 6); Haaland 8.
Courtois 6; Valverde 6, Tchouameni 7, Asencio 7, Mendy 6; Ceballos 7 (Modric 81), Camavinga 7, Bellingham 7; Rodrygo 7 (Diaz 84), Mbappe 7 (F Garcia 90), Vinicius Junior 9.
C Turpin (France) 7.
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