Real Madrid Nights

Spanish club Real Madrid staged a thrilling comeback, overturning a daunting 3-1 deficit to defeat hosts AS Roma 4-3 yesterday at Rome’s Olympic Stadium in Matchday 2 of the unified group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Roma were playing their first home match in the continental competition in over six years and appeared poised for a Dutch-style victory when they took a three-goal lead against the team managed by their former Portuguese coach, José Mourinho. Martin de Roon scored in the 20th minute, while Donyell Malen added goals in the 51st and 57th minutes, against a strike from French forward Kylian Mbappé in the 25th. However, Roma collapsed in the final minutes due to the changes made by “The Special One.”

Substitutes Carlos Asensio (83rd minute) and Brazilian endrick (85th minute), along with former Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger (90th minute), scored three goals, with two decisive assists coming from corner kicks taken by the other substitute, Turkish international Arda Güler.

Real Madrid survived a stinging blow following the news, announced before the match, that their Brazilian international striker Vinícius Júnior had been suspended for four matches after being sent off in Saturday’s La Liga game against Villarreal. Vinícius started the match but failed to justify his place in the starting lineup; Mourinho substituted him in the 59th minute, bringing on his compatriot endrick, who drew significant attention during the minutes he played.

Meanwhile, Mbappé celebrated his 100th appearance in the competition by scoring his 72nd goal, consolidating his position fifth on the list of the competition’s all-time top scorers. This was Real Madrid’s second win in the tournament, achieved narrowly after they edged out Inter, the former club of their coach Mourinho, 2-1 in Matchday 1. Roma suffered their first defeat after a valuable 1-1 draw with Turkish hosts Fenerbahçe.

De Roon gave Roma the lead with a powerful shot that deflected off French defender Ibrahima Konaté and fooled Courtois (20th minute). Mbappé equalized for the Royal Club with a strong right-footed strike from outside the box that took a deflection off captain Gianluca Mancini (25th minute), marking his seventh goal across all competitions this season. Malen restored Roma’s lead when he received a pass from Portuguese substitute Rodrigo Mora (replacing Dybala) and curled a shot that deflected off Uruguayan captain Federico Valverde and beat Courtois (51st minute). Malen then extended the lead to 3-1 with a low, powerful shot into the net (57th minute).

Mourinho immediately substituted Güler and endrick for Dutch winger Denzel Dumfries and Vinícius following the third goal. Asensio reduced the deficit when he capitalized on a rebound from Güler after an endrick header, finishing inside the net (83rd minute). endrick then equalized with a close-range header from a Güler corner kick (85th minute), and Rüdiger scored the winner by finishing a Güler corner with a close-range right-footed strike (90th minute).