They were the joint preseason favorites, the two richest clubs in soccer, and in prior years, when Manchester City inevitably met Real Madrid, the UEFA Champions League stopped in its tracks. The winner, invariably for three straight seasons, went on to wear the Champions League’s crown. And so, the thinking went, in 2025, they would surely meet again.
Not a soul, though, expected that City and Madrid, the reigning champs of England and Spain, would meet this early, in February, in a play-in round.
The dream was a clash at the summit, in Munich on May 31; the hope was that another epic would christen this new-look Champions League. Instead, on Tuesday, City and Madrid brought it to life.
Madrid stunned City with a late comeback, and won a frantic, fantastic first leg 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Jude Bellingham, via Vinicius Jr., capped it with a stoppage-time winner, sending the kings of Europe back home for Leg 2 with a clear edge.
Erling Haaland had put City ahead in the 19th minute.
Kylian Mbappé, with a swing-and-mostly-miss, equalized on the hour.
Haaland converted a penalty with 10 minutes remaining, against the run of play, to seemingly give City an advantage heading south to Spain.
But Brahim Diaz, a former City player, equalized again six minutes later.
Bellingham turned the game on its head in stoppage time.
And the 90 minutes, on the whole, though full of warts and wayward finishing, lived up to the hype.
The matchup, as Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said Monday, “feels like a Clásico now.” Twenty-four hours later, both teams, and especially his team, proved him right.
Other Champions League results
Elsewhere in the Champions League on Tuesday, PSG kicked off the knockout rounds with a 3-0 stomping of fellow French club Brest.
In Italy, Weston Mckennie scored a banger, and Juventus beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1.
And in Portugal, Borussia Dortmund sprinted past Sporting CP, 3-0, to put their tie all but out of reach at the halfway mark.
The second legs are next Wednesday. And all eyes will be on the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, where City and Real Madrid will meet yet again.
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