Real Madrid 1-2 Man City: Haaland scores as City edge closer to top-eight spot

Man City strengthened their bid to finish in the top eight of the Champions League league phase with a 2-1 comeback win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

Match Report

Manchester City came from behind to defeat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Champions League and pile more pressure on Xabi Alonso.

Erling Haaland's 43rd-minute penalty completed a first-half turnaround for the visitors at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid, playing without the injured Kylian Mbappe, who was an unused substitute, took the lead after a positive start to Wednesday's contest, when Rodrygo snapped a 32-game scoreless streak with a fine finish from a tight angle.

Rodrygo's opener came in the 28th minute, by which time Madrid had already had a penalty awarded but then overturned by VAR, with Matheus Nunes' foul on Vinicius Junior taking place outside of the box.

But Madrid wilted after Nico O'Reilly turned in his first Champions League goal from point-blank range after Thibaut Courtois spilled Josko Gvardiol's header.

City's comeback was complete eight minutes later, when Haaland slotted home from the spot after he had been hauled down by Antonio Rudiger, with the penalty awarded after a VAR check.

Courtois made a superb double save to keep Madrid in it, but Los Blancos could not add to their solitary shot on target in a second half that saw Vinicius squander two great chances while Endrick hit the crossbar, as City surged up to fourth spot in the standings.

Data Debrief: Madrid miss Mbappe as City capitalise

The pressure truly is on Alonso, who is under massive scrutiny just six months after joining Madrid. There is even speculation that this game could prove to be his last in charge if he failed to win it. Time will tell on that front.

Alonso will lament that Mbappe was not fit enough to feature, and without the Frenchman, who has been involved in eight goals in seven Champions League games against City, Madrid were toothless, despite generating plenty of openings. They managed just one shot on target from 16 attempts in total.

City, on the other hand, had eight shots on target from 12 attempts. They accumulated 2.58 expected goals (xG), albeit a good chunk of that was due to the penalty.

Haaland has now netted 51 Champions League goals in the 50 games he has started in the competition. His overall tally stands at 55 goals in 54 appearances. The 25-year-old became only the third player to score in four or more consecutive Champions League away fixtures for City, after Sergio Aguero (seven in 2019) and Phil Foden (four in 2024).

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

3' VAR overturns penalty, awards free-kick after foul

4' Valverde's free-kick hits the wall and deflects wide

6' Rodrygo runs the ball out of play in an awkward momen

7' Rodrygo crosses from right, Vinícius meets at back post but fires wide

9' Vinícius attempts to dribble past but Dias stays tight and dispossesses him

10' Will Mbappé feature? Benched through injury, watching from sidelines

11' Yellow Card! Foden booked

17' Vinícius' handball appeal ignored; cross deflects off Nunes and out

17' Rodrygo goes down under challenge from Nico and Bernardo Silva

28' GOAL! Rodrygo now has 5 goals against Manchester City. Real Madrid 1-0 Man City

29' Doku and Asencio clash after challenge, exchange shoves

31' Rodrygo loses his footing on the wet surface, slips while controlling the ball

35' GOAL! O'Reilly gets the rebound after a courtois save! Real Madrid 1-1 Man City

39' Rodrygo celebrates with manager Alonso after scoring

43' Penalty Goal! Erling Haaland converts the penalty! Real Madrid 1-2 Man City

45' Courtois denies Haaland and Cherki with quick double save

48' Painful! Haaland takes a shot to a sensitive area

50' Bellingham chips from right side of box but lifts over

52' Rodrygo cuts inside and fires wide of the far post

52' Cherki fires from tight angle, deflection saved by Courtois

58' Arda Güler is coming on for Real Madrid

59' Cherki lofts cross from right, Courtois rushes out to block

62' Doku beats defender, Courtois saves with dive

67' Brahim Díaz comes on for Ceballos

70' Triple substitution sees Reijnders, Savinho and Marmoush come on.

76' Yellow Card! Nico O'Reilly booked

77' Rodrygo crosses in, Vinicius heads wide

79' Real Madrid make a change: Endrick comes on to replace Asencio

80' Vinícius attempts an overhead kick but sends it high over the bar

81' Rüdiger fouls Savinho outside box, escapes booking

85' Endrick unlucky as he heads against the bar

87' Yellow Card! Rodrygo booked

87' Doku replaced by Ake

89' Highlight from Real Madrid vs Man City

Line-ups

Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Rudiger, Ceballos, Valverde, Tchouameni, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Álvaro Carreras, Gonzalo García, Raúl Asencio

Subs: Mbappe, Brahim, Lunin, Fran García, Güler, Endrick, Fran González, Franco Mastantuono, Joan Martínez, Jorge Cestero, Víctor Valdepeñas

Man City XI: Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Foden, Matheus Nunes, Nico González, Cherki, Doku, Gvardiol, Nico O'Reilly

Subs: Ake, Bettinelli, Omar Marmoush, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, James Trafford, Bobb, Lewis, Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov