Manchester City came from behind to claim a 2-1 win in the top Champions League clash against record champions Real Madrid on Wednesday, while Arsenal continued their perfect run in the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge. Title holders Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, were held to a goalless draw at Athletic Bilbao, Bayer Leverkusen rescued a late 2-2 draw with Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Bodø/Glimt.
Manchester City came from behind to claim a 2-1 win in the top Champions League clash against record champions Real Madrid on Wednesday, while Arsenal continued their perfect run in the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge.
Title holders Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, were held to a goalless draw at Athletic Bilbao, Bayer Leverkusen rescued a late 2-2 draw with Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Bodø/Glimt.
Elsewhere, Juventus defeated Pafos 2-0, Benfica won 2-0 against Napoli, Ajax claimed a late 4-2 comeback win at Qarabag and Copenhagen beat Villarreal 3-2.
City get one for the memory books
There was some early drama right after kick-off as Madrid were awarded a penalty after Vinicius Junior went down, but the decision was overturned because the foul happened outside the box.
The hosts still were the ones to break the deadlock, with Rodrygo scoring his first goal of the season in the 28th.
But City didn't take long to hit back and, even though goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois denied Josko Gvardiol after a corner, Nico O'Reilly collected the rebound to equalize in the 35th.
City failed to complete a well-worked counterattack in the 43rd as Courtois made a superb double save to deny Erling Haaland and then Rayan Cherki.
But before the break, Haaland scored from the spot after he was brought down inside the box to turn the game around for the English side.
"Very special - (I'm) over the moon. This goal will be with me forever but we got the three points and that's the most important thing," O'Reilly told TNT Sports.
"We know how good Real are, we've played them over the last few seasons and they're so good. It shows how well we're playing at the minute and our form."
Perfect Arsenal
Noni Madueke scored a brace and Gabriel Martinelli completed the score as Arsenal claimed their sixth win in six games.
Madueke received the ball just inside the Club Brugge half before driving forward and sending a superb strike from distance to break the deadlock in the 25th.
He then finished off Martin Zubimendi's cross in the 47th to complete his brace and Gabriel Martinelli sealed the win from the edge of the box in the the 56th.
"We know how difficult the Champions League is, and to win away from home especially with that many players out, it makes it bigger," Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told TNT.
Arsenal top the standings and due to Tuesday's results had already secured a spot in the play-offs for the knock-out round.
Besides the Gunners, Bayern Munich, PSG, City and Atalanta have also secured a spot in the play-offs and all of them can still qualify directly to the last 16.
Bundesliga sides held to draw
German sides Leverkusen and Dortmund took the lead in their respective matches and like Madrid couldn't take the three points.
Bruno Guimarães's own goal in the 13th gave Leverkusen the opener but Anthony Gordon equalized from the spot in the 51st.
Newcastle were awarded a penalty after a sloppy action from Leverkusen keeper Mark Flekken.
He received a back-pass in the penalty area but failed to clear the ball quickly. Instead, he tried to dribble Newcastle forward Nick Woltemade, who went for the ball and was brought down by the keeper.
Lewis Miley put the Premier League side ahead in the 74th, but Leverkusen rescued a point thanks to Alejandro Grimaldo's goal in the 88th.
"We lost control a bit before our second goal. It’s a mix of relief at getting the equalizer and frustration at giving away our lead," Leverkusen captain Andrich said.
Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand missed the game due to "personal reasons," according to the club.
Dortmund were ahead in the 18th thanks to Julian Brandt but Bodø/Glimt hit back in 42nd through Haitam Aleesami. Brandt completed his brace in the 51st, but Jens Petter Hauge rescued a point for the guests in the 75th.
"Right now I'm mainly disappointed. We dropped two very important points. We had to win this game," Brandt said.
Former Dortmund players Marco Reus and Kevin Grosskreutz were in the stadium and watched the match in the Yellow Wall, the block were the organized fan groups stay during the games.
Category: General Sports
