By David Hytner, at the Bernabeu, & Ed Aarons, at Jan Breydel Stadium
For Xabi Alonso, the slide towards the abyss has looked sudden from the outside, especially after Wednesday’s match. Everything was fine at the beginning of November, the results excellent.
Since then precious little has gone his way. The Real Madrid manager desperately needed something here. When this latest game eluded him, it was easy to fear the worst. Time is not a commodity afforded to men in his position.
Alonso has now won only twice in eight matches in all competitions and if his pain was deep, there was simply satisfaction for Pep Guardiola.
The Manchester City manager had arrived in Madrid – the scene of so much emotion for him over the years – needing a response to the home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in his club’s previous Champions League game.
Guardiola got his lineup wrong that night fielding youngsters and he took no chances on this occasion, going as strong as possible. The result was a come-from-behind victory that tasted extremely sweet.
Madrid’s Goal, Rodrygo’s First In 33 Games
Madrid were set fair when Rodrygo scored for the first time in 33 club-level appearances but the whistles from the home fans would be shrill when it was all over.
Nico O’Reilly equalised for City with his first Champions League goals and it was Erling Haaland – who else? – who got what proved to be the winner from the penalty spot. Madrid fought until the last. It was not their night. And it certainly was not one for Alonso.
Alonso’s future felt like the only story in town. It had dominated the buildup, the dreaded “dead man walking” phrase applied at virtually every turn. There was a reason why he was asked on Tuesday whether he was lonely. Where were his allies?
Defensive Injuries, Mbappe Not Fit To Start
It was just Alonso’s 22nd game in charge and among his issues was a defensive injury crisis plus Kylian Mbappé being fit enough only for the bench. This is a stadium that City have come to know well and it never fails to wow. It is the sense of cinema, which is reinforced by the numerous giant screens up in the rafters. Pep Guardiola got his usual whistles from the crowd. The heat on Alonso was far greater.
How Match Transpired
Everybody had expected goals and the initial exchanges suggested they were a racing certainty. Alonso almost got the early one he craved when Vinícius Júnior swayed one way and then the other on the edge of the City area and was fouled by Matheus Nunes’s swiping challenge. The referee, Clément Turpin, pointed to the penalty spot only for the VAR to rule that the offence was fractionally outside the box. Federico Valverde’s free-kick deflected and flashed past the far post.
Madrid did not look like a team in crisis at the outset. There was a fluidity about them, width on both sides. Jude Bellingham had the licence to roam; ditto Vinícius. They were able to stretch City.
Vinícius went close on seven minutes, dinking wide from Rodrygo’s glorious low cross and the breakthrough had been advertised. When Álvaro Carreras sparked a break from left-back, having wrestled Bernardo Silva off the ball, Madrid worked it via Bellingham out right to Rodrygo. He was too quick for the covering O’Reilly. The finish was arrowed into the far corner.
And relax? Hardly. The vulnerabilities of this Madrid team were stamped all over the remainder of the first half, their descent from a position of strength startling. They would have been 3-1 down by the interval had Thibaut Courtois not made a double save to keep out Haaland and Rayan Cherki after O’Reilly had crossed from the left.
City Equalize
The match turned when Josko Gvardiol got above Bellingham to work Courtois from Cherki’s corner; the goalkeeper could only shovel the ball out to O’Reilly who shot home. Madrid argued that Rúben Dias had fouled Antonio Rüdiger, Mbappé gesturing up at the screens to make the point. The offence was not there.
City’s Winning Goal
O’Reilly was involved in the goal for 2-1 and so was Rüdiger. When the former crossed, Haaland was too sharp with his movement and Rüdiger seemed to panic, grabbing him and falling on top of him. The only surprise was that Turpin did not give the penalty straight away. He needed a nudge from the VAR. Haaland relished the responsibility from the spot.
Madrid had shouted for a penalty before the City counter that led to Courtois’s double-save, Raúl Asencio going to ground near to Gvardiol following a Rodrygo free-kick. It was wishful thinking; desperate.
How much did Alonso’s players want to fight for him in the second half? It was a legitimate question given the leaks from the dressing room that indicated they have not exactly been enthused by him. Bellingham battled the frustration and he felt it deepen after the restart. It was a big chance for him, Rodrygo ushering him in on the overlap only the chipped finish was too heavy. He had only Gianluigi Donnarumma in front of him.
City grew into the game. Cherki wanted to showcase his tricks and he almost helped his team to another goal; he narrowly missed Haaland with one pass. Doku flickered on the counter.
Vinícius could not release Rodrygo on the hour, O’Reilly getting back to tackle and there would be a late push from Madrid, Alonso going for broke when he introduced Endrick for Asencio. Vinícius headed off target and volleyed another chance high. When Endrick hit the crossbar with a late header, the writing was on the wall.
Madueke, Martinelli Wonders Hand Gunners Perfect Six At Club Brugge
In another match on Wednesday evening, it turned out an evening of notable milestones for Arsenal and Gabriel Martinelli, although there was no smile broader than Noni Madueke’s.
The England forward was subjected to a ridiculous online petition that opposed his move across London from Chelsea in the summer.
But on a rare appearance on the right flank as Bukayo Saka was given a welcome rest, Madueke scored a fantastic individual goal before adding a second after half-time to set up a comfortable victory for Mikel Arteta’s side.
It means Arsenal have become only the fifth English team to win their opening six matches of a Champions League or European Cup campaign and now need only a point from their remaining two to rubber‑stamp their progress directly to the last 16, even if in reality it is already a formality thanks to their superior goal difference.
Martinelli was not to be denied his moment either, as the Brazilian’s superb curling effort made him the first Arsenal player to score in five successive Champions League matches.
His compatriot Gabriel Jesus made his first appearance in almost a year after an anterior cruciate ligament injury, meaning it was pretty much the perfect response that Arteta was looking for after losing their 18-match unbeaten record on their last outing.
“Unbelievable goal,” the Arsenal manager said of Madueke’s opener. “When you talk about individual quality and individual action and magic moments, that’s it. A player that is able to pick the ball that far, dribble past people and finish with the quality and the power that he’s done. The same as Martinelli as well. I think at this level you want to win games, you need individual players to step up and to do something different. So I’m very happy because now we have some players back in the frontline and you can tell how much better we are with them.”
With Declan Rice not having travelled to Belgium because of illness, Arteta had suggested that he would look to rotate his starting lineup after the defeat by Aston Villa.
But there was further bad news when he revealed before kick-off that Jurriën Timber had not recovered from a knock in time to play, meaning Christian Nørgaard and Piero Hincapié became the seventh central defensive partnership Arsenal have fielded this season.
Given all that, it might not have been the best time to face a Club Brugge side desperate to impress their new manager, Ivan Leko, after Nicky Hayen was sacked on Monday.
Arsenal Not Barcelona Who Drew With Brugge
Yet despite impressing in a 3-3 thriller against Barcelona earlier in the competition, their weakness has been at the back and Arsenal were ruthless in exploiting it.
The pace of the former Wolves loanee Carlos Forbs was a constant handful for Myles Lewis-Skelly but the England left-back managed to get forward in the 21st minute and saw his wayward shot diverted on to the post by Hincapié’s quick thinking.
Not much appeared to be on when Madueke picked up the ball midway inside the Brugge half a minute later until a stunning piece of skill took him away from his marker. The England forward seemed to glide away from two more defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot that went in off the crossbar.
It was a goal worthy of winning any game, although Brugge continued to look dangerous, in particular through Forbs. David Raya denied the Portugal forward before Aleksandar Stankovic went close from distance.
The hosts were growing in confidence. Christos Tzolis was able to find space inside the area just before half-time but Raya read his intentions before the Spaniard produced a brilliant full-length save to deny Stankovic again.
Madueke’s Second Goal
Madueke had been denied a second goal by Dani van den Heuvel’s flying save at the end of the first half but he had to wait less than two minutes after the restart for another chance. This time there was no way he could miss Martín Zubimendi’s brilliant cross from the left that picked him out unmarked at the back post.
There was nothing simple about Martinelli’s personal piece of history soon afterwards as the Brazilian – who had previously scored against Athletic Bilbao, Olympiakos, Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich – cut in from the left flank and unleashed an unstoppable curling shot to make it 3-0.
Jesus almost capped his return with a goal but saw his strike cannon back off the crossbar.
Marli Salmon, who starred alongside Max Dowman for Arsenal Under-18s last season, became the fourth youngest player to appear for the club at just 16 years and 102 days and looked the part for the final stages as his side took another significant step towards potential silverware.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Madueke (right) lets fly from the edge of the box to score Arsenal’s first goal in their 3-0 victory.
RESULTS OF ALL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHES, WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER:
Qarabag – Ajax 2:4
Villarreal – FC Copenhagen 2:3
Ath Bilbao – PSG 0:0
Bayer Leverkusen – Newcastle 2:2
Benfica – Napoli 2:0
Club Brugge KV – Arsenal 0:3
Dortmund – Bodo/Glimt 2:2
Juventus – Pafos 2:0
Real Madrid – Manchester City 1:2
