Bellingham Seals Dramatic Real Madrid Comeback with Late Goal Against Manchester City

Jude Bellingham, at just 21, netted a dramatic winner in stoppage time as Real Madrid rallied from behind twice to clinch a 3-2 victory over Manchester City in the opening leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout round play-off. This win marked Real Madrid’s first triumph at the Etihad Stadium within regular time.

Prior to kick-off, fans of the Citizens intensified the rivalry by chanting “stop crying your heart out” towards Vinicius Junior and his team.

Reflecting his disbelief when Rodri clinched the Ballon d’Or, the Brazilian found himself frustrated when an offside call denied him a penalty. He then produced a brilliant assist to Kylian Mbappe, whose shot was parried away, before Nathan Ake thwarted Ferland Mendy following a touch from Vinicius.

After weathering that tense spell, City found the back of the net with a spectacular play, leading to Erling Haaland scoring his inaugural goal against Los Blancos thanks to a clever chest pass from Josko Gvardiol.

In response, Vinicius’ shot, deflected, struck the crossbar, but Pep Guardiola faced further frustration as Jack Grealish was forced to leave the field due to injury shortly after the half-hour mark following an impressive start.

Substitute Phil Foden also had his chances, testing Thibaut Courtois, while Manuel Akanji’s header skimmed the crossbar. Federico Valverde was agonisingly close to levelling, with Mbappé firing over the target just before the interval.

Akanji’s physical struggles saw him substituted at half-time, yet City remained relentless as Haaland’s shot was diverted onto the crossbar by Eduardo Camavinga.

Vinicius then danced past Rico Lewis, delivering a cross that Bellingham could only head wide, before Ederson denied an instinctive effort from Mbappé, who was later halted by an excellent challenge from Gvardiol.

Yet, showing resilience, Mbappe managed to level the score midway through the second half, albeit with an awkward connection to Dani Ceballos’ chipped pass that caught Ederson off-guard, setting the stage for a thrilling finale.

Ceballos, however, followed up his assist with a foul on Foden, resulting in a penalty awarded to City. Haaland capitalised, expertly sending Courtois the wrong way to restore City’s advantage.

This lead, however, was short-lived, as a rebound off an Ederson save from Vinicius’ close-range effort fell perfectly for Brahim Diaz, who quickly netted against his former club just two minutes after being introduced.

Not satisfied, Vinicius seized on a lapse in the City defence, surging forward to set up Bellingham, who calmly slotted the ball home. This victory marked Real Madrid’s fourth consecutive win in the Champions League and granted them a valuable advantage to take back to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

In stark contrast, Manchester City has managed just one win from their last six matches in European competitions.