Real Madrid wins for the first time at the Etihad Stadium: 3-2 against Manchester City

Real Madrid wins the first round in the this year's edition of the new Champions League "classic": Manchester City vs. Real Madrid. Both teams have now met five times in the last nine years for Champions League knockout games: 2016, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 2025, the meeting was earlier than usual, in the new knockout playoff before the round of 16.

Real Madrid had never won at the Etihad Stadium, and for most of the match, it seemed like they weren't going to win this time. Haaland took an early lead in the first half, Mbappé equalised in the second half with a really really weird shot, but Haaland, with a penalty, gave the 2-1 ten minutes before the end.

However, Brahim Díaz, a former Manchester City player, scored the 2-2 right after jumping into the field, substituting Rodrygo, and refused to celebrate out of respect for the spectators. But he did his little dance in the injury time, when Vinícius and Bellingham cooked the 2-3. Madrid earned a hard-fought victory: they clearly dominated the game (not the possession) and made more goal attempts than ever before to the Guardiola's team: 20 shots, 8 on target, versus 11 shots and 4 on target for City.

With the last-minute victory (easily the best Real Madrid game of the season), Madrid ties in the head-to-head with City: 4 victories each, and 5 draws. Next week, at the Bernabéu, Manchester City will have to fight hard come back... but the play-off is very much open.