They were the joint preseason favorites, the two richest clubs in soccer, and in prior years, when Manchester City inevitably met Real Madrid, the UEFA Champions League stopped in its tracks. The winner, invariably for three straight seasons, went on to wear the Champions League’s crown. And so, the thinking went, in 2025, they would surely meet again.
Not a soul, though, expected that City and Madrid, the reigning champs of England and Spain, would meet this early, in February, in a play-in round.
The dream was a clash at the summit, in Munich on May 31; an epic that would christen this new-look Champions League. Instead, on Tuesday, City and Madrid brought it to life.
Madrid stunned City with a late comeback on the opening day of the knockout stage, and won a frantic, fantastic first leg 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Jude Bellingham, via Vinicius Jr., capped it with a stoppage-time winner, sending the kings of Europe back home for Leg 2 with a clear edge.
And the 90 minutes, on the whole, though full of warts and wayward finishing, lived up to the hype.
The matchup, as Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said Monday, “feels like a Clásico now.” It was billed as a burgeoning rivalry built on the lore of a few unforgettable nights. In 2022, Rodrygo’s two late goals in two minutes stupefied and deflated the Cityzens. In 2023, Man City finally broke through, smashed Real Madrid 4-0, and got its revenge.
In 2024, the clubs’ fifth knockout-round meeting in less than a decade ended in a penalty shootout. Real Madrid won it, and went on to win the entire competition. That year, like in prior years, the City-Madrid showdown felt like the final before the final.
This year, it didn’t. Both teams had sleepwalked through the league phase. City had endured a hellish season, and flirted with a full-blown crisis. But still, Ancelotti said, “City are one of the best teams in Europe. City have the best coach [Pep Guardiola] in this competition. It’s one of the most difficult games you can have.”
So, he insisted, this was the new European Clásico, the equivalent of Bayern Munich-Real Madrid in years past.
And 24 hours later, as all of Europe once again stopped to gawk, both teams — but especially Ancelotti’s team — jolted awake and proved him right.
Together, they fired off 31 shots. They scored five goals but still underperformed their collective xG tally.
Erling Haaland put City ahead in the 19th minute, at the end of a flowing move that started at the feet of City goalkeeper Ederson.
But Real Madrid responded. Its Galacticos stormed the City box. Kylian Mbappé, with a swing-and-mostly-miss, equalized on the hour.
Haaland converted a penalty with 10 minutes remaining, and it seemed, for a fleeting moment, that City would take an advantage south, into next Wednesday’s second leg.
But its midfield was too fragile, its defenders too exposed, and its goalkeeper too sloppy. Ederson’s mis-hit punt gifted Real Madrid a break in the 86th minute. Brahim Diaz, a former City player, slapped in another equalizer.
And six minutes later, Bellingham completed the comeback. Vini torched City youngster Rico Lewis. Real Madrid’s pressure, at last, paid off.
Other Champions League results
Elsewhere in the Champions League on Tuesday, PSG kicked off the knockout rounds with a 3-0 stomping of fellow French club Brest.
In Italy, Weston McKennie scored a banger, and Juventus beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1.
And in Portugal, Borussia Dortmund sprinted past Sporting CP, 3-0, to put their tie all but out of reach at the halfway mark.
The second legs are next Wednesday. And all eyes will be on the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, where City and Real Madrid will meet yet again.