Real Madrid vs Manchester City summary: score, stats, goals & highlights | Champions League 2025/26

Peeeep peeep peeep! Clément Turpin brings the game to an end: Manchester City have beaten Real Madrid, condemning Los Blancos to a second straight home defeat.

Despite the absence of Kylian Mbappé, who did not come off the bench, Madrid certainly played more than half-decently. However, those seven first-half minutes - in which Nico O'Reilly and Erling Haaland struck for City - have done for Los Blancos tonight.

It's now just two wins in eight for Madrid and their head coach, Xabi Alonso, who is under mounting pressure. 

That said, the 15-time European champions remain in a very good position to secure a direct ticket to the Champions League last 16. Madrid have slipped down the standings, but remain in the top eight - seventh, to be precise. City, meanwhile, have risen to fourth, one point ahead of Los Merengues.

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Again the ball is slung into the City box, but again it comes to nought. Donnarumma collects.

Aké makes a real hash of his headed clearance, nodding it right to Endrick. But Endrick's ball into the middle is to no-one.

Twice Madrid send it into the mixer; twice City clear. First Vinícius crosses, before Valverde pings it into the area. No joy.

City break, allowing Savinho a chance to run at a backpedalling Madrid defense. He tries to jink his way into shooting space on his left boot, but his effort from the top of the box is blocked.

Two more minutes for Madrid to salvage a point.

Now Silva is booked, for a wild hack on Güler.

Four minutes of time added on.

Rodrygo is joined in the book by Carreras, who hauls Savinho down on the right.

With Madrid sleeping, City take the free-kick short to Reijnders. He's allowed to amble into the box at will, and Madrid are very lucky that he can't find a team-mate with his cutback.

Guardiola replaces Doku with Aké, and Manchester City have gone to five at the back.

Just before that substitution, Rodrygo was booked for kicking the ball away.

Back come Madrid, as the decibels rise once more inside the Bernabéu.

It's worked to Endrick at the top of the box, where he has Brahim in space to his right. Instead, Endrick tries a Hollywood ball into Vinícius, which doesn't come off. Silly.

Urged on by the Bernabéu fans, who are making a great deal of noise right now, Carreras drives towards the left-hand City byline.

Before the ball drifts out, he hooks his left boot around a cross into the middle, where Endrick heads against the bar! 2-1 it remains.

Ah, now this is what Madrid are exposing themselves to by pushing men forward. City break quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Savinho is bursting past Rüdiger from the right, and into the box. 

Rüdiger shoves Savinho over, just outside the area. The German is already on a booking, and is more than a touch lucky not to get his second yellow for that, surely? Guardiola certainly thinks so, and is himself booked for giving the officials a little too much lip.

Madrid are really pushing City back - and it's another chance for Vinícius!

From the right, Valverde's corner arrows high over everyone's heads towards the Brazilian, who's all alone at the back post. He connects with a volley, but fires well over. It seems Donnarumma got a slight touch that put Vinícius off.

Another Madrid change. Xabi is throwing caution to the wind with this one.

Off comes defender Raúl Asencio, on goes forward Endrick Felipe.

Güler's delivery is blocked, but back come Madrid. They create a fine chance for Vinícius, but he gets his header all wrong!

From the left, Rodrygo whips over a ball right onto his countryman's head. His cross is right there for Vinícius to glance into the net, but he can't direct it goalwards.

O'Reilly earns a yellow card after hauling down Valverde, who was bursting past him and into the box. The foul is just outside of the area.

A big chance for Güler to deliver into the danger area here...

Doku jinks past Güler and flops to the turf, but his appeals for a foul are waved away.

Madrid work it left to Rodrygo, who drops a shoulder and drifts inside. His ball to the top of the box finally drops to Bellingham - but the Englishman can't do anything with it. His shot is blocked.

Arda Güler cleans out Silva on the left-hand side, and is lucky to avoid a yellow card. 

City are inching closer to only their second ever win at the Bernabéu, from a total of eight visits.

It's all Madrid ball at the moment, but they're not doing a huge amount with it. There's a lot of side-to-side passing - and there are whistles from the home fans every time this happens.

Triple substitution for City. Haaland, Foden and Cherki are off for Tijjani Reijnders, Omar Marmoush and Savinho.

Haaland reacts after being hit by the ball in a painful place.

Another change for Real Madrid. Xabi Alonso replaces Ceballos with Brahim Díaz.

The home fans are clearly getting antsy now. When Madrid keep the ball at the back, with little forward intent, there are audible whistles from the Bernabéu.

No such luck for Madrid this time. Receiving the ball on the left once more, Doku jinks inside and buys a foul. 

The free-kick comes to zip, but still: Doku has been fabulous.

Cutting in from the left, Carreras prods a ball towards the top of the City box, but succeeds only in giving it away.

City break quickly, spraying the ball left to, you guessed it, Jérémy Doku. This time, however, Doku opts not to set off at pace towards the Madrid box; he seeks a little breather instead. “He's human,” quip the commentary team on Spanish television.

That's a crucial intervention from Courtois. Doku, ever the danger man for City, cuts in from the left and utterly rifles a shot towards Courtois' left-hand post. The Belgian is quickly down to parry, though, and diverts it behind.

Half an hour to go at the Bernabéu. As it stands, Real Madrid are heading for their second straight home defeat. It'd be two wins in eight for Xabi's men.

At one end, Silva falls to the turf inside the Madrid box. It's a clear foul - but said foul was committed by his team-mate.

At the other end, Vinícius is so close to slipping Rodrygo in on Donnarumma! Bursting at pace towards the City box, Vinícius sends a low, angled ball into Rodrygo's path on the right, but O'Reilly gets there first.

Real Madrid make their first change of the evening, replacing Gonzalo with Arda Güler.

Real's UCL record when behind at break

Some more fine stat-supplying from Mister Chip: Real Madrid have been behind at home in 21 UCL games before tonight, winning just six of them. Five draws and 10 defeats.

Doku is such a menace. Right out on the left-hand touchline, he evades Asencio's attempts to foul him and thunders into the box. He tries to jink his way into a position to shoot or square it, but his route to the danger area is well shut off.

This is a really good game. 

Having almost conceded a leveller, City very nearly score a third. It's worked to Cherki on the right-hand side of the box, where he connects with a shot. On its way towards goal, the ball hits off at least one Madrid leg - and could have gone anywhere, really. But Courtois grabs hold!

Madrid should be level! It's a fine piece of attacking play by the hosts.

On the left, Carreras feeds Vinícius. He, in turn, whips a pass right onto the toes of Rodrygo at the top of the box. 

Rodrygo slips it right to Bellingham, who bursts into the box... but lifts his finish over the bar! What an opportunity to equalize.

Haaland is up and running again now, charging into the box in a bid to get on the end of Doku's delivery.

On the left, Doku scampers towards the byline, before coming to a halt and dangling his leg over the ball in a flurry of stepovers. His delivery can't find Haaland, or any other City player.

Madrid pop it about inside the City half, until City win it back - in painful fashion for Haaland. 

He's left in a heap on the ground after Carreras prodded the ball into his, er, crown-jewel area. 

Peeep! We're back underway in the Spanish capital.

No changes for either team.

Soccer

Rodrygo continues incredible Manchester City record with streak-ending goal

For more on that drought-ending goal for Rodrygo, let me point you in the direction of this piece by my colleague Will Gittins.

The half-time UCL scores

Here are all the half-time Champions League scores from across Europe. Leaders Arsenal are on their way to their sixth win in six Champions League games this season.

Rodrygo breaks goal drought

It feels like a long time ago now, but it's worth noting that Rodrygo's opener was his first goal of the season. He hadn't scored since all the way back in early March, 32 games ago.

Hitman Haaland

Haaland strokes home his penalty to give Manchester City a 2-1 lead at the Bernabéu.

Hungry Haaland hits UCL milestone

Haaland's goal came on his 50th career start in the Champions League, by the way. Per Opta, he has scored more goals in his first 50 UCL starts than any other player.

Peeep peeep peeep! Clément Turpin calls time on the first half. It was rather enjoyable.

Madrid took the lead on the half-hour mark - a lead they fully merited. But City, having created next to nothing until that point, proceeded to turn the scoreboard on its head.

Three minutes of time added on at the Bernabéu.

Oh, wow. But for two sublime stops by Courtois, City would be 3-1 ahead.

The visitors absolutely tear forward. From the left, Doku pings a ball into the middle, where Haaland is arriving. He connects with it first time, and gets plenty on it. Courtois beats it out into the path of Cherki, who sends the ball right back where it came from. Again Courtois parries!

Less than 10 minutes ago, Madrid were ahead and City had produced almost zilch of note going forward.

As Jimmy Greaves said, 'tis a funny old game.

Penalty given!

Having been fouled by Rüdiger, Haaland will have the chance to complete a quickfire turnaround for City.

Ah, well now... we have another VAR check. 

From the left, O'Reilly clips the ball into the area, where Rüdiger appears to wrestle Haaland to the ground.

Turpin trots across to the monitor...

Right away, Madrid pour forward in search of a second.

From just outside the City box, Bellingham feeds a low ball into the run of Vinícius, who has put on the after-burners. Bellingham's pass is still just too long for the Brazilian, though. It rolls out for a goal-kick.

There's a short VAR check, as Real Madrid appeal that Rüdiger was fouled in the process of that City goal. Los Blancos' appeals go unheard: the goal is given.

Yep, Real Madrid are playing well tonight.

City may have had a lot of the ball, but they've really done sweet Fanny Adams with it. Madrid, on the other hand, are playing with no little purpose and penetration.

Advancing towards the City area, Vinícius slips the ball left to Bellingham, who's in a great position to play it into the center, with men waiting. Bellingham can't find anyone in white, but Madrid lead - and are carrying the greater attacking threat.

Ufff. Well, having just given his team the lead, Rodrygo gives everyone inside the Bernabéu rather a scare.

With nobody around him, he slips - and appears to catch his knee in the turf. We've all seen this movie before: the letters A, C and L immediately spring to mind.

But after a dab of the magic sponge, it looks like Rodrygo is OK to continue.

At one end, Asencio has to look alive to cut out a dangerous ball into the box - it was, after all, headed in Haaland's direction.

At the other end...

Having won the ball back, Madrid keep it for a good minute, minute-and-a-half or so in the City half. 

When City clear, Doku fizzes a low ball towards the penalty spot, but Asencio prods it away.

Just inside the Madrid half, Nunes picks up the ball and runs at the Madrid defense. Carreras does well to step in and dispossess the Brazilian, who was hurtling forward at pace.

Per the Spanish stats guru Mister Chip, that Vinícius penalty award is the earliest ever to be revoked by VAR in a Champions League game.

It really has been a very promising opening from Real Madrid. 

Ceballos receives in the right-hand channel, before curling a cross into the Manchester City box. It's headed away, but Xabi Alonso can feel encouraged by what he has seen so far.

Incidentally, replays show that Vinícius's cross did indeed bounce off Nunes's arm - but said arm could was firmly clamped to the side of his body. Definitely not a pen.

Receiving the ball in the left-hand channel, Rodrygo beats Nico - and is brought down by the Spaniard.

Rodrygo picks himself up to swing in the free-kick, which Tchouaméni heads off target.

Back comes Vinícius, hotfooting it towards the City byline. His pullback is deflected behind - and there are timid shouts for handball from Madrid. Nope, says Mr. Turpin.

The corner comes to nought, but Madrid reclaim possession and push City back once more.

That's lively play from Doku, who drops a shoulder and jinks inside, into space to do damage. But he fails to inflict any on the Madrid defense.

Los Blancos bring it clear, working it to Vinícius on the left. He tries to scamper his way into the City box, but is dispossessed.

City step into the Madrid half and enjoy another prolonged period on the ball.

They do absolutely stuff-all with it, though. Madrid get it clear.

Foden is the first player into Turpin's notebook, after chopping Rodrygo down on the halfway line.

Silva drops into a pocket of space, midway inside the Madrid half. Looking up, he lifts a lovely ball onto Doku's chest on the edge of the penalty area.

Doku chests down, butcan't get his shot away.

Boy, did Real Madrid need an encouraging start like this.

That is fabulous counter-attacking play by Real Madrid.

The ball is worked to Gonzalo, who lays it off perfectly for Rodrygo. Charging down the right wing like the proverbial express train, Rodrygo produces an inch-perfect pass to Vinícius, who's arriving at pace on the left.

With Donnarumma rushing out to meet him, Vinícius dinks it over the keeper... but the ball drops just off target!

Having survived that almighty fright, City come forward and keep the ball for a sustained period inside the Madrid half.

Well, they keep the ball until they don't. Madrid win it back, and the attack is snuffed out.

Ah, hold on. Replays show the foul took place juuuust outside the box. Turpin changes his decision to free-kick.

Valverde it is who hits it, but it flies off target!

Gvardiol gets himself into a terrible tangle, allowing Vinícius a first opportunity to run at the City defense.

The Brazilian doesn't get his pass right - but, right away, is given another chance to scamper forward. He cuts past Nunes and into the box... and is brought down! Turpin points to the spot!

Penalty to Real Madrid!

What a start for Los Blancos.

This is City's fifth unchanged starting lineup this season, Opta notes. Sending out an untouched XI is something Guardiola was not previously in the habit of doing.

Peeeep! Clément Turpin blows his whistle and we're underway!

Nice hug there between Alonso and Guardiola.

It's go time!

Last look at the lineups

With two minutes to go until kickoff, here's a final reminder of today's teams:

Real Madrid: 

Courtois, Valverde, Asencio, Rüdiger, Carreras, Ceballos, Tchouaméni, Bellingham, Gonzalo, Rodrygo, Vinícius.

Manchester City:

Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Silva, Nico, Foden, Cherki, Haaland, Doku.

Out come the teams!

Monsieur Turpin leads the two teams out onto the Bernabéu pitch.

We are an anthem and a coin toss away from game time.

Haaland limbers up

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland warms up at the Bernabéu.

The Norwegian is the third-top scorer in the Champions League this season, with five goals. Only Kylian Mbappe (nine) and Victor Osimhen (six) are ahead of him.

Who is the VAR?

Today's video assistant referee (VAR) will be Frenchman Jérôme Brisard. The assistant VAR will be Germany's Sören Storks.

Turpin's on-field assistants will be compatriots Nicolas Danos and Benjamin Pages, while the fourth official will be Stéphanie Frappart, also French.

Who is today's match referee?

France's Clément Turpin will be the man in the middle at the Bernabéu. 

Turpin has taken charge of a Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City before - just last season, indeed. The 43-year-old was appointed to the first leg of the teams' knockout round playoff tie, which Madrid won 3-2 in Manchester 

Notably, Turpin also took charge of Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final.

Opta opts for Real win

Having lost only once at home to Manchester City, Real Madrid are being backed by Opta's 'supercomputer’ to maintain their good home record against City.

Opta gives Madrid a 41.8% chance of victory tonight, with Man City rated at 34.2%. There is a 24.0% chance of a draw, Opta says.

Two Wednesday results to bring you

Today's two early UCL kickoffs have just finished, by the way:

Qarabag 2-4 Ajax

Villarreal 2-3 Copenhagen

Ajax, four-time European champions, have got their first points on the board this season, lifting them to 33rd in the standings. Meanwhile, Copenhagen have boosted their chances of progression with a huge win at Villarreal, who still have only one point to their name. The Danes are provisionally up to 23rd.

What happened when Madrid and City last met in the UCL?

Last season, Real Madrid and Manchester City met in the knockout playoff round - with Los Blancos winning 6-3 on aggregate.

The 15-time Euroepan champions, who would later be knocked out by Arsenal, powered past City thanks to four goals by Kylian Mbappé. That included a second-leg hat-trick in a tie-clinching, 3-1 win at the Bernabéu.

In seven visits to Madrid's home stadium, City have won just the once - a 2-1 victory in February 2020.

Madrid vs City: a UCL fixture

As I mentioned in my preamble, today's game is Madrid and City's 15th meeting in the Champions League, making it the most-played fixture in the tournament since they first met just over a decade ago.

The clubs have now crossed paths in the Champions League in five straight seasons, and in six of the last seven.

"Pee with his own"

That second Guardiola quote needs some explaining.

When he advises Alonso to "pee with his own one", I'm guessing it's clear what he means by "one". Dong, Johnson, member - insert whichever word you're most comfortable with, folks.

Essentially, "pee with your own one" appears to be a fairly crude idiom that amounts to: "Do it your way."

As for the cologne bit, I'll let this article, written by my colleague Roddy Cons, do the explaining.

What the coaches said: Pep Guardiola, Man City

What the coaches said: Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid

Haaland's LaLiga hot streak

In the three games they've won on the spin, Manchester City have racked up 11 goals - but Erling Haaland scored only one of them. In fact, that's the only time he's hit the net in his last five games for City.

That said, Haaland is still averaging exactly a goal a game for City so far this season, with 20 in 20.

And, per stats shared by UEFA, the Norwegian has also averaged a goal a game in his last nine Champions League appearances against LaLiga teams.

This was Real Madrid's arrival at the stadium a short while back; as ever, hoards of Madridistas were there to give their team a hearty bienvenidos.

Real Madrid's last five results:

- Dec. 7: Real Madrid 0-2 Celta Vigo, LaLiga
- Dec. 3: Athletic Club 0-3 Real Madrid, LaLiga
- Nov. 30: Girona 1-1 Real Madrid, LaLiga
- Nov. 26: Olympiacos 3-4 Real Madrid, UCL
- Nov. 23: Elche 2-2 Real Madrid, LaLiga

Man City's last five results:

- Dec. 6: Man City 3-0 Sunderland, EPL
- Dec. 2: Fulham 4-5 Man City, EPL
- Nov. 29: Man City 3-2 Leeds United, EPL
- Nov. 25: Man City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen, UCL
- Nov. 22: Newcastle United 2-1 Man City, EPL

City on the up in the EPL

While Madrid are losing ground in the Spanish title race, Manchester City are now breathing down the necks of Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Coupled with the Gunners' 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, City's win over Sunderland means they have now moved to within two points of the top of the table in England.

City arrive in Spain on winning run

As I mentioned earlier, Manchester City head to the Bernabéu having lost on their last runout in the Champions League. Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso's former team, were 2-0 winners at the Etihad in matchday six.

That reverse in late November was City's second straight defeat in all competitions; three days earlier, Guardiola's men had been beaten 2-1 at Newcastle in the Premier League.

However, City have since posted three wins on the spin - most recently, Saturday's 3-0 victory over Sunderland.

City check in

This was the Manchester City squad's arrival at the Bernabéu a short while ago:

Manchester City team news

Pep Guardiola's chosen starting XI is in: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Silva, Nico, Foden, Cherki, Haaland, Doku.

Manchester City are unchanged from the team that began last weekend's 3-0 Premier League win over Sunderland.

Alonso's myriad injury worries

As Mbappé deals with his knee/finger problems, and Militao prepares for a lengthy-ish recovery from his hamstring issue, it's fair to say the Bernabéu sick bay is fairly full right now.

Alonso is also without injury victims David Alaba, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Carvajal, Dean Huijsen and Ferland Mendy. 

Mbappé a Madrid miss

Looks like we won't see Mbappé until after half time at the earliest, then.

Clearly, I'm stating the bleedin' obvious here, but his absence is sub-optimal news for Madrid. After all, he's the top scorer in the Champions League this season, with nine goals. 

That haul includes two hat-tricks: in September's thumping of Kairat, and matchday five's 4-3 win over Olympiacos. The second of those trebles, by the way, was the second-fastest in Champions League history.

Overall this season, Mbappé has 25 goals in 21 games in all competitions. Pas mal.

Real Madrid

Why is Kylian Mbappé not playing for Real Madrid against Manchester City?

My colleague Joe Brennan has more on Kylian Mbappé's absence from the Real Madrid lineup.

No Mbappé in Madrid XI

For Real Madrid, the headline team news is that Kylian Mbappé is only able to start on the bench. The Frenchman, who has a knee issue and a broken finger, was declared fit to face City - but doubts remained over whether or not he would be a starter. Now we know.

Elsewhere, Antonio Rüdiger comes into central defense, where he has previously done a stand-up job at marshalling Manchester City's goalscorer-in-chief, Erling Haaland.

Fede Valverde drops to right-back, while Dani Ceballos comes into the midfield. In attack, Gonzalo García and Rodrygo Goes are both brought into the XI.

Real Madrid team news

Xabi Alonso has confirmed his Real Madrid lineup for tonight. It is: Courtois, Valverde, Asencio, Rüdiger, Carreras, Ceballos, Tchouaméni, Bellingham, Gonzalo, Rodrygo, Vinícius.

Soccer

Real Madrid lose another defender: two thirds of the defence are in the sick bay

You can read more about Éder Militao's injury, which is set to see the Brazilian miss three to four months, in this piece by my colleagues Andy Hall and Sergio López.

Florentino's crisis meeting

In the hours after Madrid's defeat to Celta, club president Florentino Pérez is reported to have led a crisis meeting on Sunday night.

It was, above and beyond the points lost, a costly reverse. Éder Militao is set for a significant layoff after injuring his hamstring, and Fran García and Álvaro Carreras will miss LaLiga games after they were both sent off.

Madrid in a state of crisis

So: Real Madrid are in a very healthy position indeed in the Champions League. Nonetheless,  the ‘crisis’ klaxon has well and truly been sounded at the Bernabéu. 

In LaLiga last weekend, Madrid suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo that left them four points behind league leaders - and arch rivals - Barcelona.

That’s a nine-point swing since late October, when Madrid’s 2-1 Clásico win over Barça saw them open up a five-point lead at the top of LaLiga.

The defeat to Celta - in which Los Blancos had two men sent off - means Madrid now have just two wins from their last seven in all competitions.

How things stand in the UCL league phase

Real Madrid sit sixth in the league-phase table, having picked up 12 points out of a possible 15. 

Bayern Munich and Arsenal have both guaranteed a top-24 finish by moving to 15 points; Madrid can do likewise tonight.

As for Manchester City: their 2-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on matchday five has seen them slip to 12th. With three games still to play, however, their total of 10 points leaves them very close to sealing progression to the knockout stages.

Last season, 12 points was definitely enough to make the knockout playoffs. Some teams also advanced with 11.

Xabi faces former boss

Another bad result tonight, and it appears Xabi Alonso will find himself in all sorts of bother.

As he fights for his future as Real Madrid boss, Alonso comes up against Pep Guardiola - a man he worked with as a player.

At the tail end of his career, Alonso spent two years playing under Guardiola at Bayern; the pair lifted two Bundesliga titles and a German Cup together.

“I really love him, I really appreciate him,” the Manchester City boss said of his former charge during yesterday’s pre-match press conference.

A big night for Xabi Alonso

To be perfectly honest, today’s edition of Real Madrid vs Manchester City is unlikely to have major negative ramifications for either team’s prospects of knockout-stage qualification. 

Regardless of tonight’s result, both are in an exceedingly good position to progress.

For Madrid boss Xabi Alonso, however, this is a really rather important night. After a poor run of results in recent weeks, his job security is looking more than a little iffy right now.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City: welcome!

Hello there! Welcome to the standout game of matchday six: a clash between two heavyweights who, between them, have won three of the last five Champions Leagues. 

Last season's final, indeed, was the first since 2020 not to feature either Real Madrid or Manchester City.

Since the teams first met in the competition back in 2012, moreover, this has been the Champions League's most-played fixture: today’s clash at the Bernabéu will be Madrid and City's 15th meeting.