Manchester City defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening.
In the 28th minute, the deadlock was broken, and it was broken by the hosts, Real Madrid. Alvaro Carreras won the ball back for his side in a deep area on the left side of the pitch, and he and his teammates quickly counter-attacked up the pitch and turned defence into attack in no time. The ball was eventually fed out to Rodrygo, who, with a burst of pace, made his way into the opposition's box and fired a powerful, low finish past Gianluigi Donnarumma to put Madrid 1-0 up.
Madrid's lead lasted just seven minutes, as in the 35th minute, Nico O'Reilly equalised for City. Josko Gvardiol forced a save out of Thibaut Courtois after threatening with a header from a corner, but the Belgian's save fell right to the feet of the youngster, who tapped the rebound into the back of the net from close range to make it 1-1.
Shortly after netting the equaliser, City were awarded a penalty after Antonio Rudiger brought down Erling Haaland in the box. The Norwegian stepped up to take the penalty, and the big striker sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and slotted his penalty calmly into the bottom right corner to give his side the lead for the first time in the match.
The first half came to a close with City in a 2-1 lead.
In the second half, not much happened in terms of goalmouth action, but Madrid were the team who were on the front foot and chasing a goal. That goal never came, though, and City successfully saw out the match to take all three points at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Match Highlights
To follow soon...
Real Madrid Player Ratings
Rodrygo celebrating after scoring for Real Madrid against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League
GK: Thibaut Courtois - 7.5/10
Courtois may have been at fault for City's first goal, but he made a number of superb saves throughout the match, which kept Madrid in with a chance of getting something from the match despite them being second best for most of the match.
RB: Federico Valverde - 5/10
An evening to forget for the Uruguayan. Valverde had a horrible time defending against Doku, and he was beaten in one-on-one situations pretty much every time they faced each other.
CB: Raul Asencio - 5.5/10
Came across plenty of times to help out Valverde against Doku, and he had very little success. Asencio couldn't deal with the pace and skill of Doku, and he also really struggled at times to deal with the physicality of Haaland.
CB: Antonio Rudiger - 3/10
Committed a silly foul on Haaland, which saw City awarded a penalty that they ended up scoring to take the lead. Rudiger never really looked comfortable when defending and was probably lucky not to have been sent off.
LB: Alvaro Carreras - 7.5/10
Had a huge part to play in Madrid's opening goal, as he was the one who won the ball back and got Madrid up the pitch as quickly as they did. Carreras played with plenty of energy and was solid both defensively and offensively.
RM: Rodrygo - 8.5/10 (Man of the Match)
Madrid's best player. The Brazilian was by far the liveliest player for Madrid, and he took his goal very well. Rodrygo threatened plenty of times down the right flank with his pace and skill and caused City real problems, especially on the counter.
CM: Dani Ceballos - 5.5/10
Worked very hard in the midfield, but didn't really have any moments where he showed quality on the ball. The Spaniard pressed well, but struggled to deal with the quality and intensity of City's midfield.
CM: Aurelien Tchouameni - 6.5/10
Put in a solid defensive performance, but didn't really impact the match much when he had the ball at his feet.
LM: Jude Bellingham - 7.5/10
Provided the assist for Rodrygo's opening goal. Bellingham was solid going forward and in the pressing department, but missed a few big chances.
ST: Gonzalo Garcia - 4.5/10
Hardly ever got involved in the match and touched the ball just 14 times despite playing 58 minutes.
ST: Vinicius Junior - 6/10
Had some moments throughout the match where he threatened with his pace and dribbling, but for the most part, the Brazilian didn't really have much impact and had a quiet night for his standards.
SUB: Arda Guler - N/A
Tried to make things happen when he got on the ball, but City's defence managed to stay strong despite his liveliness.
SUB: Brahim Diaz - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Endrick - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Manchester City Player Ratings
Nico O'Reilly celebrating after scoring for Manchester City against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma - 6/10
Didn't have a single save to make during the match. The Italian couldn't have really done much to stop Rodrygo's strike either, as it was very powerful and placed in the corner.
RB: Matheus Nunes - 7.5/10
Put in a solid defensive showing up against the likes of Bellingham and Vinicius Junior. Nunes didn't really offer much going forward, but did very well defensively.
CB: Ruben Dias - 7.5/10
Dealt with the Madrid attackers very well and produced several important defensive actions, such as blocks and clearances.
CB: Josko Gvardiol - 7.5/10
Defended very aggressively and very well throughout the match, and even had a part to play in City's early goal, as his header forced the save out of Courtois, which fell straight to O'Reilly.
LB: Nico O'Reilly - 8.5/10
Another great performance from the youngster. Although O'Reilly scored, his best moments of the match came defensively, as he helped his side out massively and put in a very mature performance.
CM: Nico Gonzalez - 7.5/10
Never put a foot wrong in possession of the ball, and was a really good defensive block which protected City's back line.
CM: Bernardo Silva - 6/10
Didn't really put a foot wrong in possession, but sometimes struggled to deal with the pace and intensity of the match.
CM: Phil Foden - 5.5/10
Never really got involved in the match when it came to his attacking play, but worked hard and pressed well when he needed to.
RW: Rayan Cherki - 8/10
Created several good chances for his teammates and looked like a lively threat all evening. Cherki looked to drive forward and make things happen pretty much every time he got on the ball.
ST: Erling Haaland - 8/10
Didn't have that much involvement in the match, but still managed to get on the scoresheet. Haaland slotted his penalty away and did well at holding the ball up at times to bring his teammates into play.
LW: Jeremy Doku - 8.5/10
By far City's best and most dangerous attacking threat. Doku was a nightmare for Valverde to deal with and troubled him every single time he decided to take him on. Not only was Doku relentless going forward, but he worked incredibly hard as well, which was also important for his side.
SUB: Omar Marmoush - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Tijjani Reijnders - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Savinho - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Nathan Ake - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.