Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City boys again suffered another humiliation at the Etihad Stadium after a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid, last season’s adversary.
It was as if Real Madrid still had the keys to break the defence of the former Champions League winners, and it was easy for the Galacticos to calmly use it to break into what was looking like a solidified defence. The Galacticos came back into the game twice to punish their hosts.
A brace from Haaland scored in both halves as the trio of Kylian Mbappe, Brahim Diaz, and Jude Bellingham gave Madrid a lifeline in the second half.
Both Madrid and City gave up a fight in the first half. The key difference was Kelvin de Bruyne making crucial offensive decisions for the hosts, while Vinicius Junior faced the reality of either playing or listening to the booing fans.
In the 19th minute, Erling Haland scored his first goal against Madrid, which the VAR confirmed two minutes later.
But Madrid’s retaliation to Haaland’s goal from Vini hit the crossbar to deny the visitors an equaliser.
After the half-hour mark, Guardiola had to make the first substitution of the match, as Jack Grealish, instrumental in City’s first goal, was injured. Phil Foden, who made an entry for Grealish in the 35th minute, made a low cross-shot to stretch Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Meanwhile, the first half ended as City won the first challenge.
Haaland then began to make an impression in the second half as his attempt hit the crossbar.
But in the 55th minute, Ederson, who had been idle in the first 45 minutes, was called to action by Kylian Mbappe, who revved Rodrygo’s pass.
Meanwhile, Madrid got an equaliser in the hour mark, 60th minute, from a rebound acrobatic to Valverde’s blocked freekick.
Valverde then forced Ederson to another save six minutes later as Madrid began to subdue their hosts.
But City got back into the game in the 77th minute after an infringement from Dani Ceballos on Foden led to a penalty.
And Haaland scores from the sport to record a brace against Madrid in the 80th minute.
Six minutes later, Madrid returned to the game. During that time, Ederson was able to pull back a Vinicius shot, but Brahmin Diaz’s timely intervention allowed Madrid to get the ball back.
Madrid’s comeback culminated in the 92nd minute with Jude Bellingham slotting the ball into an empty net. Ederson had miscalculated Vinicius’ lob, leading to the game-winning goal.
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