Football
Bellingham Nets Late Winner As Real Madrid Prevail In Champions League Thriller vs Manchester City
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished11 Feb 2025
Jude Bellingham grabbed the winner as Real Madrid claimed a 3-2 win over Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie on Tuesday, and you can watch the full highlights below.
Real Madrid Prevail In Champions League Thriller At The Etihad
After a disappointing showing in the Champions League league phase, Manchester City were dealt a tough hand for the play-offs, as they were drawn against reigning champions and record winners Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola’s side were far from fazed during the early stages of the fixture however, as they stormed to a 1-0 lead with less than 19 minutes on the clock.
Some nice link-up play between Jack Grealish, Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland saw the big Norwegian go one-on-one with the onrushing Thibaut Courtois, and he made no mistake in slotting past the Belgian to open the scoring.
Just 15 minutes into the second period, Los Blancos struck back through Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman connected with Dani Ceballos’ floated ball over the top, and despite not making strong with the ball, his effort looped into the back of the net beyond a helpless-looking Ederson.
20 minutes later, Foden was brought down by Ceballos in the Real Madrid box, forcing Clement Turpin to point to the spot. Haaland stepped up to the task and smashed home the spot kick to restore his side’s lead with 10 minutes to go.
As has so often been the case this term though, City were unable to hold on to their lead and threw away their advantage. Brahim Diaz drew the visitors level in the 86th minute, before Jude Bellingham completed the turnaround in added time.
It leaves Guardiola’s side on the brink of elimination from Europe’s premier competition, with anything other than a win in Madrid next Wednesday confirming their exit and Los Blancos’ advancement to the last-16.
WATCH: Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid Highlights
Ahead of next week’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, both sides are in action on Saturday afternoon, with City hosting Newcastle in the Premier League, while Real Madrid travel to Osasuna in La Liga.