Man City 2-3 Real Madrid: Player ratings as Bellingham steals first leg victory at the Etihad

Real Madrid scored twice in the final five minutes to secure a 3-2 win at Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie.

There was little doubt as to whether this contest would deliver, it always does, and the tone was set from the off with a fervent Etihad greeting the players. However, the City support would’ve been concerned with what they saw early on as Madrid spurned a couple of good opportunities to take the lead.

After Vinicius Junior had a penalty ruled out for offside, Kylian Mbappe tested Ederson with a fierce drive, and Nathan Ake blocked a goalbound effort from Ferland Mendy.

The Cityzens thus struck the opener against the run of play, but Erling Haaland’s first-ever goal against Madrid was sublime – built from back to front. City then asserted vintage control on the contest, before the visitors ended the first half with a flourish. Mbappe, however, failed to find the target with a couple of efforts.

Los Blancos’ pressure resumed after the restart, and they were level on the hour mark through a sliced Mbappe volley from the second phase of a Madrid set piece. Ederson was on hand to deny Jude Bellingham a swift go-ahead goal before City settled again and Dani Ceballos brought down Phil Foden for a penalty expertly converted by Haaland.

Remarkably, though, Guardiola’s side threw away their advantage in the final five minutes. Substitute Brahim Diaz drew Madrid level with a well-taken rebounded finish before Bellingham poked home the winner after Vinicius broke in behind and lifted a poor effort over the City goalkeeper.

Erling Haaland scored his first goals against Real Madrid / Alex Livesey – Danehouse/GettyImages

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

Player

Rating

GK: Ederson

6.7/10

RB: Manuel Akanji

6.9/10

CB: Ruben Dias

5.7/10

CB: Nathan Ake

6.8/10

LB: Josko Gvardiol

7.5/10

DM: John Stones

6.5/10

RM: Savinho

6.9/10

CM: Bernardo Silva

6.2/10

CM: Kevin De Bruyne

6.2/10

LM: Jack Grealish

6.2/10

ST: Erling Haaland

8.6/10

SUB: Phil Foden (30′ for Grealish)

7.5/10

SUB: Rico Lewis (46′ for Akanji)

5.6/10

SUB: Mateo Kovacic (61′ for Ake)

5.1/10

SUB: Omar Marmoush (84′ for Savinho)

N/A

SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (84′ for De Bruyne)

N/A

Subs not used: Stefan Ortega (GK), James McAtee, Nico O’Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez, Jeremy Doku, Matheus Nunes.

He got there in the end / Michael Regan/GettyImages

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

Player

Rating

GK: Thibaut Courtois

6.5/10

RB: Federico Valverde

7.2/10

CB: Aurelien Tchouameni

7.1/10

CB: Raul Asencio

7.5/10

LB: Ferland Mendy

6.6/10

CM: Eduardo Camavinga

7.1/10

CM: Dani Ceballos

7.5/10

AM: Jude Bellingham

8.4/10

RW: Rodrygo

7.3/10

ST: Kylian Mbappe

8.1/10

LW: Vinicius Junior

8.2/10

SUB: Luka Modric (81′ for Ceballos)

N/A

SUB: Brahim Diaz (85′ for Rodrygo)

N/A

SUB: Francisco Garcia (90′ for Mbappe)

N/A

Subs not used: Andriy Lunin (GK), Sergio Mestre (GK), Jacobo Ramon, Jesus Vallejo, Lorenzo Aguado, Chema Andres, Gonzalo Garcia, Arda Guler, Endrick.

Player of the match – Erling Haaland (Man City)READ THE LATEST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEWS, PREVIEWS & RATINGS HERE