Real Madrid edge Man City in five-goal thriller in play-off first leg

Manchester: Jude Bellingham’s late goal completed a stunning comeback from Real Madrid, who twice came from behind to clinch a narrow 3-2 first-leg advantage against Manchester City in the Champions League playoffs.

Erling Haaland’s double – the second from the penalty spot with just over ten minutes remaining – either side of Kylian Mbappe’s looping strike, appeared to have given City the edge. However, visiting sub Brahim Díaz was quickest to the rebound following an Ederson save to level against his former side, before Bellingham tapped in from close range after good work by Vinicius Jjnior to seal the win in a pulsating contest, Champions League reports.

The loss leave City needing to win by at least a goal in the second leg to at least level the aggregate scores and have any chance of progressing after a heart-breaking final seven minutes.

Juventus took the initiative in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, beating PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the first leg at home on Wednesday (IST).

Juve placed 20th in the league phase and is the unseeded team in the play-offs, while PSV had ranked 14th. The two sides had also met in the league stage, with Juve winning 3-1.

The Bianconeri was aggressive in Tuesday’s game and went ahead in the 34th minute when Federico Gatti’s cross was blocked, but he won the ball and chested for Weston McKennie to smash home on the edge of the box.

The away side equalized in the 56th minute when former Inter Milan player Ivan Perisic gathered the ball in the box, and his nice first touch committed Lloyd Kelly before the Croatian fired home with a low strike.

Juve restored the lead in the 82nd minute when Francisco Conceicao burst down the right, and his cross was parried into the path of Samuel Mbangula, who slotted home from close range.

The Bianconeri will travel to Eindhoven February 19 for the second leg as they look to book their place in the next round.

Earlier, Ousmane Dembele continued his superb recent form to score a double and put Paris Saint Germain in control of their all-French tie against Brest. Vitinha gave the visitors the lead by coolly converting an early penalty awarded for handball.

Dembele doubled the advantage with a low fizzing effort on the stroke of half-time before bundling in his tenth goal in his last four games to seal an impressive 3-0 victory for Luis Enrique’s side.

Elsewhere, Serhou Guirassy’s tenth goal of the campaign helped Borussia Dortmund secure a commanding 3-0 win in Lisbon.

After Maximiliano Araujo hit the crossbar from distance before half-time for Sporting, Guirassy headed in Julian Brandt’s cross to open the scoring after 60 minutes.

Pascal Gross met Guirassy’s delivery with a knee to register his first goal for Dortmund eight minutes later, and Karim Adeyemi completed a slick one-two with Brandt to slot in the third from a counterattack with eight minutes remaining. Agencies

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