Spanish side Real Madrid came from 3-1 down against hosts Roma of Italy to win 4-3, in one of the standout results of the second round of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, which also saw French side Paris Saint-Germain beat England’s Manchester City 4-2, Liverpool defeat Austria’s LASK Linz 6-3 and England’s Aston Villa thrash visitors Fenerbahçe of Turkey 6-0.
Real Madrid complete comeback against Roma
At the Olympic Stadium, Roma took the lead through Marten de Roon in the 20th minute before France’s Kylian Mbappé equalised for Real Madrid five minutes later. Doniel Malen then scored twice for the hosts in the 51st and 57th minutes to put the Italian side 3-1 ahead.
But Real Madrid responded in the closing minutes, with substitute Carlos Espe reducing the deficit in the 83rd minute before Brazil’s Endrick scored the equaliser in the 85th. German defender Antonio Rüdiger completed the Spanish club’s comeback by scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute, giving his team their second consecutive victory in the competition.
Mbappé reaches 100 European appearances
The match saw Mbappé make his 100th Champions League appearance, while the French forward took his competition tally to 72 goals. In England, defending champions Paris Saint-Germain returned with a 4-2 victory at Manchester City.
Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé scored early goals for the French side in the 13th and 15th minutes before Vitinha added a third in the 32nd and Maghnes Akliouche completed the visitors’ fourth in the 63rd. Norway’s Erling Haaland scored Manchester City’s goals in the 53rd and 75th minutes, taking his tally to 61 goals in 60 Champions League matches.
Paris and Liverpool strengthen winning runs
In the 90th minute, Spain’s Ferran Torres missed a penalty for Paris Saint-Germain. The result took the Parisian side to 6 points, while Manchester City remained on 3 points. In Austria, France’s Bradley Barcola scored a hat-trick to lead Liverpool to a 6-3 victory over hosts LASK Linz.
Barcola’s goals came in the 24th, 37th and 66th minutes, with the first being his first for the English club in his seventh match since moving from Paris Saint-Germain. Uruguay’s Ronald Araújo scored for Liverpool in the 22nd minute, Dutchman Jeremie Frimpong added another in the 51st and Welshman Lewis Koumas scored the sixth in the 72nd.
Liverpool thus secured their second consecutive victory in the competition. The Austrian side’s goals were scored by Robert Ljubičić in the 63rd minute and Florian Flecker in the 74th and 77th. Aston Villa continued their strong start to the competition by beating visitors Fenerbahçe 6-0, underlining their attacking effectiveness and continued positive results in European competition.
Feyenoord overturn result against Como
Dutch side Feyenoord also came from behind to beat Italian visitors Como 3-2. Senegal’s Assane Diao opened the scoring for Como in the 18th minute, before Hwang Hee-chan equalised for the hosts in the 20th. Algeria’s Anis Hadj Moussa put Feyenoord ahead in the 52nd minute before the third goal came from an error by Spanish goalkeeper Robert Sánchez in the 82nd.
Greece’s Anastasios Douvikas pulled one back for Como in the third minute of stoppage time. The victory made up for Feyenoord’s 5-1 defeat by Barcelona in the opening round, while Como suffered their first defeat in European competition.
The other results in the round included Stuttgart of Germany beating Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava 3-0, Norway’s Bodø/Glimt defeating German side Borussia Dortmund 1-0, Spain’s Real Betis beating Portugal’s Porto 3-2 and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk defeating Greece’s AEK Athens 3-1.
Spain’s Barcelona beat Turkey’s Galatasaray 4-1, Villarreal of Spain defeated Italy’s Napoli 3-1, Germany’s RB Leipzig beat Dutch side PSV Eindhoven 1-0 and Belgium’s Club Brugge defeated Italy’s Inter 4-3. Norway’s Viking drew 3-3 with Germany’s Bayern Munich.
Spain’s Atlético Madrid also beat England’s Manchester United 2-0, Azerbaijan’s Sabah defeated Czech side Slavia Prague by the same scoreline, England’s Arsenal beat France’s Lille 3-0 and Portugal’s Sporting defeated France’s Lens 2-0.
