Atalanta BC v Real Madrid C.F. - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6
Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
Atalanta 2-3Real Madrid (Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior & Bellingham). All action in Italy. This is the immediate reaction. Coming up: Player ratings, interview quotes and as always the ManagingMadrid podcast.
Real Madrid may have found a silver lining in the league, but the Champions League still looked pretty bleak for them so far this campaign. Atalanta away wasn’t going to make it any easier, with the SuperCup finalists looking to enact revenge upon the European heavyweights. Vinícius Júnior returned to the eleven, with Dani Ceballos continuing his run of games in recent times. The impressive Chema Andrés was on the bench from Castilla, with others including Rodrygo Goes and Arda Güler. Lucas Vázquez captained Madrid.
✅ Our starting XI!
@Atalanta_BC#UCL pic.twitter.com/zpyymrdWOz
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) December 10, 2024
Real Madrid started really strongly, with Kylian Mbappé looking sharp and almost scoring within two minutes. He’d score before ten, after taking a pass by Brahim Díaz forward with his first touch, and firing low into the goal with his second. Ademola Lookman tried to respond for Atalanta, but his shot was well-blocked by Aurélien Tchouaméni. Mbappé then found himself clean through, and could have squared it for Vinícius Júnior, but instead opted to go it alone resulting in a simple save for the keeper. This was when the dynamics started to shift a little, although Antonio Rüdiger could have put an end to that with a headed effort that went agonisingly wide. Madrid wouldn’t hold onto the lead until half-time, as a soft penalty given away by Tchouaméni was flung into the top corner to equalise. Half-time, 1-1.
VINI AND JUDE SCORE THREE MINUTES APART
REAL MADRID IN THE UCL ARE BACK pic.twitter.com/gDpoaEKxJE
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 10, 2024
Ademola Lookman sparked the second half into life when he forced Thibaout Courtois to make a good save and keep it level. A crazy ten minutes then ensued, starting with Vinícius Júnior latching onto a loose ball to finish low out of nowhere. Jude Bellingham then pulled off a similar stunt, putting his side two ahead and shocking the Italians. Atalanta didn’t back down though, and pulled one back after Lookman beat Courtois to make it a real European thriller. Rodrygo Goes found himself in three against two, but the poor decision to shoot meant that the score stayed 3-2. Brahim Díaz, who was having a great game, also spurned the chance to regain that cushion with a high effort. Courtois was still required for the heroics, making a low save with minutes to spare. After Atalanta missed an open goal in the final seconds - Real Madrid finished the game with the 3-2 advantage, and shot up the group stage table ahead of the final game. What did you think about this one?