He didn’t deserve to suffer so much. That’s the first conclusion that leaves Real Madrid’s debut in the 2025/2026 Champions League. The Merengue was first in the tournament, receiving at the Bernabéu the Olympique Marseille of France, a rival who had not started the season well, and defeated it by 2-1.
Xabi Alonso bet on an 11 dynamic: Courtois; Trent, Militao, Huijsen, Carreras; Tchouaméni, Valverde, G.ler; Rodrygo, Mbappé, and Mastantuono. The team responded well, with intense pressure high on the field, and was close to taking advantage with a Chilean Mbappé who went close.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury barely started the game, but it may have been a cold watershed; the Whites didn’t give up the game’s dominance. First, the stick returned a shot from Mastantuono that seemed to have a goal; then Rulli saved against Rodrygo; and later, he did the same before Mbappé. All that in the first 10 minutes.
But it was so intense in the pressure that, in the first failure, the visitors came down from Courtois’s bow: Weah took advantage of a mistake by Goller and put the 0-1 to everyone’s surprise.
When the match was still settled after the opening of the score, Kondogbia clearly cut Rodrygo in the area and the referee took a penalty: Mbappe did not fail and put 1-1.
The game then entered a sort of well, where both of them struggled to generate danger.
Mastantuono lifted everyone from the armchair with a couple of genius moves, and Mbappé and Aubameyang scored the third goal of the game. Just before the break, the Argentine missed the clearest goal chance since arriving at Real Madrid.
The second half began again with a clear dominance of the Madridistas and another shot at the stick, this time from Mbappé. But Real Madrid switched off quickly, prompting Vinicius and Brahim’s earnings for Rodrygo and Mastantuono.
In Madrid, it seemed to settle better, but then Carvajal lost his head and was expelled for throwing a head at Rulli, after the intervention of the VAR. The red did not change the philosophy of the locals, who, with 10 players and much less football, never stopped trying against a Marseille that seemed in keeping with the draw.
The equation changed just 10 minutes from the end, with a dubious penalty that ended up converting Mbappé. The ball hit Medina’s arm, although it seemed more accidental than anything else.
Vinícius and the French striker were able to set the story, but Rulli, the absolute figure of the match, prevented them. At the end, there was room for some scare, with the entire French team besieging the Madrid area, but without luck.
Despite everything, it was a good debut for Real Madrid. He again showed that renewed image proclaimed by Alonso, with intense pressure and intelligence to recover in attack. Today, he only missed a goal against a rival archer who became huge and could only be defeated from the 12 steps.
What follows for Madrid
With the first three points in the pocket, Real Madrid will return to action on Saturday for the Spanish League, where it marches as the only leader with four wins in the same number of matches. Then comes the turn of the Levante and the classic with Atlético de Madrid.
For Champions, you will have to wait until the last week of September, when you have to take a long journey to almost the Chinese border, where Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty stadium, one of the debuting teams in this edition, has its stadium.
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