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This video can not be played Man City beat Real Madrid to pile pressure on Alonso At a glance Rodrygo opens scoring by drilling home first goal since March Nico O'Reilly equalises and Erling Haaland penalty puts Man City in front before half-time Kylian Mbappe, injured before the game, remains on bench for Real Madrid PLAYER RATER Manchester City recovered from a goal down to deliver a magnificent Champions League victory at perennial winners Real Madrid and leave the La Liga side's manager Xabi Alonso precariously holding on to his job. Alonso is under severe pressure following a poor run in the league and a reported clash of culture with his players, and the heat will now crank up after Real failed to hold on to their early advantage. The hosts suffered a blow as leading goalscorer Kylian Mbappe was deemed only fit enough to be on the bench, but the France captain did not make an appearance as his team-mates fell to a demoralising defeat. City almost suffered a nightmare start when Matheus Nunes tripped Vinicius Jr inside the first two minutes and the referee pointed to the spot, but then awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box after consultation with the video assistant referee (VAR). Federico Valverde almost converted the resulting effort but his drilled shot deflected narrowly wide, while the sprightly Vinicius dinked wide at the far post shortly after. It seemed like City had weathered the early storm and were controlling the possession, before being hit on the break as Rodrygo collected Jude Bellingham's cross-field pass and rifled in his first goal since March. City were behind for just seven minutes as the visitors scored with their first clear opportunity of the contest, academy left-back Nico O'Reilly poking home from close range after Josko Gvardiol's header was scooped back into the danger zone by Thibaut Courtois. The English side turned the game around on the stroke of half-time courtesy of Erling Haaland's penalty after the striker was bundled over in the box by Antonio Rudiger. Real attempted to draw level in the second half, with Bellingham chipping over and substitute Endrick flicking a header which clipped the crossbar, but City held on for a tremendous victory. Have your say on Man City’s performance This video can not be played Man City against Real Madrid was won down the left-hand side - analysis Real and City have become familiar foes in the Champions League, defining this particular era of the competition by facing each other for the 15th time and the fifth consecutive campaign. City faced a hostile Real crowd which made their feelings known before kick-off, jeering and whistling ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola's name when it was read out by the stadium announcer. But the Spaniard and his side will be highly satisfied in gaining a measure of revenge following their play-off stage defeat here in February, with Guardiola now losing only seven of his 28 meetings against Real. City started nervously in the Spanish capital and went behind but showed excellent character in the cauldron of the Bernabeu to recover, keep their cool and see out the contest. Academy product O'Reilly never seems to put a foot wrong and scored a dream equaliser to drag his side back into the contest on 35 minutes, while defensively he won three tackles and contributed four important clearances. The ever-reliable Haaland made no mistake with his penalty to score his 55th Champions League goal, with no player managing more since his debut in the competition for RB Salzburg in 2019. Jeremy Doku could have made it a more comfortable scoreline but saw his low shot pushed wide by Courtois at full stretch, and ultimately it did not matter. City recovered from their shock defeat by Bayer Leverkusen last time out and climb to fourth in the table, while they will be confident of claiming an all-important top-eight place with matches to come against Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray. This video can not be played Alonso's Real Madrid future uncertain after Man City defeat - analysis Is this the end of Alonso's six-month reign? BBC Sport's Guillem Balague said before the game that the Spaniard's chances of holding on to his job were "slim" – he is now surely holding on to his position by his fingertips. A board meeting, which took place after Sunday's loss against Celta Vigo, is never a good sign and they could reconvene again quickly to make a decision. This was the first managerial meeting of Alonso and Guardiola after working together as player and boss at Bayern Munich, but one that could prove consequential. Real failed to build on their lead and succumbed once City took control of the contest, with the result dropping them to seventh in the table. Real Madrid: Will Alonso still be in charge when his side head to Alaves in La Liga on Sunday? (kick-off 20: 00 GMT). Manchester City: Pep Guardiola's men travel to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on the same day (14: 00). After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 10th December 2025 at 22: 20 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Xabi Alonso Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Pep Guardiola Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Xabi Alonso Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Pep Guardiola Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 UEFA Champions League All competitions All competitions All competitions This will be the 15th time that Real Madrid and Manchester City have faced each other in the UEFA Champions League. Since their first meeting in the 2012-13 season, it is already the most-played fixture in the competition in this period (14 games). Manchester City have lost their last two games against Real Madrid, suffering defeats home and away against them in last season’s play-off round. This is as many losses as they had experienced in their previous 11 games against the Spanish side combined (W4 D5 L2). Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has faced Real Madrid on 27 previous occasions, winning 48 percent of those matches (W13 D7 L7). However, Guardiola is winless in the most recent four against the Spanish side (D2 L2), and has never gone five in succession without beating them. After only losing one of his first nine away games against Real Madrid as a manager (W6 D2), Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is winless in his last four trips to face the Spanish side (D2 L2), while conceding 10 goals across those four matches (2. 5 per game). This will be the first managerial meeting between Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid) and Pep Guardiola (Manchester City). Alonso made 79 appearances in his playing career under Guardiola (W58 D12 L9), all for Bayern Munich between August 2014 and May 2016. Since November 2024, Manchester City have lost six of their 12 games played in the UEFA Champions League (W4 D2). Prior to this run of 12, their previous six defeats in the competition came over the course of 69 matches, between October 2018 and October 2024 (W49 D14). Real Madrid are currently on the third-longest streak of scoring in consecutive home games in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history (38 games), behind a 44-game run by Real Madrid themselves (September 2011-October 2018) and one of 45 games by Juventus (April 1973-September 2000). The last visiting side to keep a clean sheet away to Real Madrid in this competition was CSKA Moscow in December 2018 (0-0 draw). Kylian Mbappé has scored nine goals in five games in the UEFA Champions League this season; the joint-most by a Real Madrid player in their first five appearances in a single edition, along with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013-14 (9). Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has scored more goals in the UEFA Champions League than any other player since his debut campaign in 2019-20 (54). Indeed, two of the only three players who have netted 50+ goals in the competition in this period could both square off in this match, with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé also netting 50 times since then (Robert Lewandowski being the other). Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé has been directly involved in eight goals in seven games against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League (7 goals, 1 assist); only Lionel Messi has had a hand in more against the Citizens in the competition (9 in 8 appearances – 7 goals, 2 assists). Match ends, Real Madrid 1, Manchester City 2. Second Half ends, Real Madrid 1, Manchester City 2. Attempt blocked. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Federico Valverde. Attempt blocked. Savinho (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Omar Marmoush. Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Brahim Díaz (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Bernardo Silva (Manchester City). Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Endrick. Attempt blocked. Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Attempt blocked. Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Savinho. Álvaro Carreras (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Álvaro Carreras (Real Madrid). Savinho (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing. Substitution, Manchester City. Nathan Aké replaces Jérémy Doku. Rodrygo (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card. Foul by Rodrygo (Real Madrid). Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt blocked. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Endrick (Real Madrid) hits the bar with a header from the centre of the box. Assisted by Álvaro Carreras with a cross. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.