Real Madrid lost 1-2 at home to Manchester City in the sixth round of the UEFA Champions League after the Premier League side managed a first-half comeback. Rodrygo opened the scoring for the Galacticos, while Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot for the Citizens. Both Thibaut Courtois and Gianluigi Donnarumma made some great saves, but the three points were ultimately won by the British side, who registered their first win over Los Blancos after four consecutive games without a win.

Real Madrid and Manchester City faced off at the Santiago Bernabeu in the sixth round of the UEFA Champions League, in a match that would mark the fourth duel in the last three years between the two teams that took place in the “stars” competition in the Spanish capital. In fact, the match between “los blancos” and “citizens” represented the seventh official game played in the European competition, whether we refer to the matches that took place in Madrid or to the confrontations on British soil, between 2023 and 2025.

In the previous round of the UEFA Champions League, the “galactics” had achieved a narrow success, final score 4-3, on the field of Olympiakos, in Greece, in a match in which Kylian Mbappe scored a “poker”, unlike the team prepared by Pep Guardiola who lost in their own “home” against the Germans from Bayer Leverkusen, with a two-goal difference. However, before making the trip to the Spanish capital, Manchester City had won three consecutive Premier League games, while Real Madrid had won two of their last seven matches on all fronts.

Before the UEFA Champions League game kicked off, Pep Guardiola had a positive record against Los Blancos, as the Catalan coach had managed 13 wins, five draws and five defeats in a total of 23 meetings with Real Madrid. The former FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager also had a good record in terms of goal difference: 47 goals scored and 29 conceded by the teams he had coached against the “galactic” group.

David Alaba, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Daniel Carvajal and Eduardo Camavinga, injured respectively, and Kylian Mbappe, uncertain, due to a fractured finger in the match Real Madrid lost, in LaLiga, against Celta Vigo, were the problems at the team level that Xabi Alonso had to manage. In the opposing camp, Pep Guardiola could not rely on the services of footballers such as Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Kalvin Philips and John Stones at the time of this confrontation, the English stopper being out of the “circuit”, as a result of a last-minute injury.

Real Madrid and Manchester City had also met in the previous season in the UEFA Champions League, in the play-offs of the competition, when, in both the first and second leg, the “los blancos” group prevailed. 3-2, respectively, 3-1, were the results recorded by the “galactics” in the company of the “citizens”, the match played at the “Santiago Bernabeu” being one in which Kylian Mbappe scored three times, and Nico Gonzalez would score the only goal for the British team. In the second minute of this match, Vinicius Junior was fouled inside the penalty area by Matheus Nunes, and the Brazilian footballer fell to the grass, Clement Turpin dictating a penalty for the “galactics”.

However, after checking the replays, it was found that the phase occurred on the edge of the box, so Real Madrid benefited from a free kick from a bidding position. Federico Valverde was the one who launched the ball towards the goals defended by Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the ball was deflected into a corner kick. A huge opportunity to score belonged to Real Madrid in the seventh minute of the match, when, on a counterattack, Rodrygo sent a pass on foot to the far corner, where Vinicius Junior, falling, sent it wide of the goal.

A cross from Rodrygo’s foot, from about 30 meters away from the opposing goal, was intercepted by Aurelien Tchouameni, but the French central midfielder’s attempt to score went wide of the “citizens’ goal”. The opening of the score came in the 28th minute of the match, when a recovery in his own half that Alvaro Carreras managed allowed the “galactics” left-back to continue the phase with Gonzalo Garcia, who passed to Jude Bellingham. The English midfielder passed to the right side for Rodrygo, whose finish to the far corner was unstoppable.

The equalizer came five minutes later, when Rayan Cherki’s cross was headed home by Josko Gvardiol, and Thibaut Courtois’s intervention allowed Nico O’Reilly to push the ball into the net from a few meters, fulfilling a simple formality and taking advantage of the Belgian goalkeeper’s blunder. Later, a duel between Antonio Rudiger and Erling Haaland, in which the German defender “put the Norwegian forward to the ground”, was ruled in favor of Manchester City, so the guests benefited from a penalty kick. From the penalty spot, the “citizens” forward converted without emotion, sending it to the left of the Real Madrid goalkeeper, on foot.

In the added minutes of the first half, Manchester City missed a double-chance, when, on the counterattack, Nico O’Reilly passed into the center of the box, where Erling Haaland resumed from the first, but Thibaut Courtois was on the post, as happened with the left-footed execution launched by Rayan Cherki, whose shot was saved by the first post. A huge chance to score appeared at the beginning of the second half, when Vinicius Junior found Rodrygo free near the opponent’s goal, and the continuation of the Brazilian footballer was with Jude Bellingham, whose lob went over the “citizens'” goal.

The guests’ reply came a few sequences later, when Rayan Cherki was left alone face to face with Thibaut Courtois, but the execution at the short corner of the French footballer was saved by the Belgian goalkeeper. A crucial goal-scoring opportunity then appeared at the home goal, when Rayan Cherki flicked the ball to Phil Foden, whose acrobatic shot was blocked by Real Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper. Jeremy Doku won the duel with Raul Asencio in a hurry, and his finish, at the far corner, was met by Thibaut Courtois, who saved his team from conceding another goal.

In the 77th minute of the match, Rodrygo made his way through the opposing defenders and crossed into the box for Vinicius Junior, whose header went wide of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal. From a corner kick, the same Brazilian footballer missed the equalizer when he tried to score spectacularly, from a scissor kick, but the ball went well over the goalpost.

The end of the confrontation brought a victory for Manchester City that allowed the British team to climb to fourth place in the general ranking, accumulating 13 points, while Real Madrid fell to seventh place, one length behind the “citizens”. In the next round of the UEFA Champions League, the “galactics” will receive the visit of AS Monaco, and the team trained by Pep Guardiola will travel to Norway to “face off” with Bodo Glimt.