In a hard-fought Champions League encounter, Real Madrid faced Manchester City and ultimately lost 2:1. Rodrygo gave Madrid an early lead, but City equalized through O’Reilly before Haaland converted a penalty to put the Skyblues ahead. Despite solid efforts from the Spanish side, they were unable to turn the game around.

In the 6th round of the Champions League group stage Real Madrid faced Manchester City at home. It is the 5th consecutive season that the two sides clashed Europe’s top competition.

Xabi Alonso’s squad has been struggling with inconsistent performances, not having won the last five out of seven games. After having won the latest Champions League encounter against Olympiakos, they are now coming out of a 2:0 loss in a turbulent LaLiga game against Celta Vigo. Real Madrid are eager to bounce back and stabilize their form again. Manchester City, on the other hand, have to come back from a 2:0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, however can build off of their Premier League momentum.

With the team’s topscorer Kylian Mbappé not showing up to the last training before the game, questions arose whether he would be able to play for Los Blancos. As two of the most influential strikers in Europe, Mbappé and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland could have faced each other in what would have been a standout matchup, especially after Mbappé scored four goals against Olympiakos in Madrid’s latest Champions League clash. Since the Frenchman had to watch the game from the bench, players like Jude Bellingham, who scored against Juventus in the 2nd round, were able to step up to the challenge and created goal-scoring opporunities.

In the 28th minute, a decimated yet determined Real Madrid was rewarded for its efforts: Rodrygo scored from a tight angle after good work from Bellingham. It was his first goal after 32 competitive games without scoring. The numerous absences of key players such as Mbappé, Éder Militão, Eduardo Camavinga, Daniel Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold were not felt for long periods of the game.

However, City responded quickly and somewhat fortuitously: after a corner, Joško Gvardiol’s header was saved by Thibaut Courtois, and Nico O’Reilly capitalised on the rebound to make it 1:1.

Skyblues’ forward Haaland remained inconspicuous for a long time, even though he has scored 54 goals in just 53 Champions League appearances. Shortly before half-time, the 25-year-old striker made his mark for the first time. After a VAR check, a penalty was awarded for a push by Antonio Rüdiger on Haaland, which the Norwegian converted confidently.

Real started the second half with determination once again, but failed to capitalise on their chances.

Thanks to their 2:1 victory at the Bernabéu, the Citizens overtook Madrid in the group stage table and climbed to fourth place. In the new year, they face their next European matches against Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray. Real Madrid, on the other hand, dropped to seventh place and will have to prove themselves in their matches against Benfica and Monaco.