Manchester City's Erling Haaland, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's second goal during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City, in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, and a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League on Thursday raised further questions about his future.
It’s now just two wins in eight games for Madrid and back-to-back home losses after goals from Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland sealed victory for City.
Elsewhere, Arsenal remained perfect in the Champions League after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge continued their 100% record, and Newcastle drew 2-2 away at Bayer Leverkusen, having led in the second half.
In Madrid, Kylian Mbappe, the hosts’ leading goalscorer, was ruled fit only for a place among the substitutes and played no part as Real fell to a deflating defeat.
Real thought they had the perfect start when Matheus Nunes brought down Vinicius Junior inside two minutes and the referee pointed to the spot. A VAR check overturned the decision and a free kick was awarded on the edge of the area instead. Federico Valverde went close from the set piece as his driven effort deflected wide, while Vinicius missed at the far post moments later.
City settled after the early pressure and looked to control the tempo before being caught on the counter. Rodrygo gathered a cross field pass from Jude Bellingham and fired in his first goal since January to give Madrid the lead.
The advantage lasted only seven minutes. City equalised with their first real opening when academy left back Nico O’Reilly prodded home from close range after Josko Gvardiol’s header was pushed back into traffic by Thibaut Courtois.
City then hit the front on the stroke of half-time. Erling Haaland converted from the spot after being bundled over by Antonio Rudiger. Courtois prevented further damage with a strong save to deny the forward shortly after.
Madrid pushed for an equaliser after the break. Bellingham lifted a chance over the bar, and substitute Endrick glanced a header onto the crossbar, but City saw out the final stages to secure a significant away victory.
“Difficult to come here, it’s a tough place. The game was a bit chaotic; we couldn’t really control it. We get the win in the end, super happy,” Haaland said.
“This is a place you want to play, these are games you want to play. With this new format in Champions League you get to play more games which is nice. I like it.”
Noni Madueke struck twice as Arsenal kept their perfect Champions League record intact with a convincing win over Club Brugge that all but guaranteed their place in the knockout stage.
Mikel Arteta made five changes from the side beaten by Aston Villa, and one of those inclusions delivered the opener. Madueke held off a defender, drove forward and unleashed a fierce 20-metre effort that cannoned in off the crossbar.
“The first goal was really nice, second a tap in but the first one was sweet. Delighted with the result,” said Madueke.
“I think the bare minimum I need to give to my team is threat. Obviously trying to score and be as decisive as possible, that’s the next level I need to get to in terms of being consistently decisive for club and country. I think I can reach that level.”
Noni Madueke, that is UNBELIEVABLE ????
The Englishman dances his way through the Brugge defence and smashes it in off the crossbar. Sublime.
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As for what the Premier League leaders can achieve this season, he added: “We’re fighting on all fronts. I feel like we can win this competition and win the league, that has to be the aim. We’re in a good place at the moment.”
Club Brugge created chances late in the first half but David Raya preserved Arsenal’s lead with strong stops to deny Christos Tzolis and Aleksandar Stankovic.
Madueke extended the advantage two minutes after the restart, heading in Martin Zubimendi’s pinpoint cross. Gabriel Martinelli added a third shortly after when he curled a precise finish into the far corner, sealing a comfortable night for the Premier League leaders.
Gabriel Martinelli take a bow ????
The Brazilian is the first player to score in 5 straight Champions League games ????
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Arsenal were also boosted by the return of Gabriel Jesus, who made his first appearance in 342 days after recovering from an ACL injury. Marli Salmon, 16, came off the bench for his senior debut, marking another milestone on a straightforward evening for the hosts.
Jesus went close to marking his comeback with a goal, striking the bar from the edge of the box late on.
The win moved Arsenal to 18 points, already more than enough to secure a top-eight finish last season. It puts them in a strong position to avoid February’s play-off round and head straight into the last sixteen.
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao, while Ajax scored three goals late in the game to deny Qarabag a surprise win in one of the early kickoffs.
Four-time European champion Ajax twice trailed against its Azerbaijani opponent, but fought back to win 4-2 in Baku.
Qarabag has been one of the surprise packages in this season’s competition and led after 10 minutes through Camilo Duran. Matheus Silva scored two minutes into the second half to make it 2-1 after Kasper Dolberg had levelled for Ajax.
But Ajax powered back with three goals in 11 minutes. Oscar Gloukh scored in the 79th and 90th, with Anton Gaaei getting the other in the 82nd.
Copenhagen also scored late to win 3-2 at Villarreal.
Substitute Andreas Cornelius struck in the 90th to seal victory in a game where Copenhagen had twice been pegged back after taking the lead.