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Xabi Alonso considers Real Madrid's performance in spite of their loss to Manchester City.

Real Madrid fell 2-1 to Manchester City in a tense Champions League clash at the Bernabéu, but Xabi Alonso praised his squad's relentless effort. Rodrygo's early strike gave Los Blancos hope, only for City's quickfire goals from a corner and penalty to flip the script in ten crucial minutes. Alonso's post-match words highlighted performance over the scoreline, signaling resilience amid mounting pressures.​ The Match Unfolds: A Tale of Two Halves Real Madrid burst out of the blocks, capitalizing on home advantage with Rodrygo's opener that set an aggressive tone against a City side known for their clinical finishing. Alonso noted the team's positive start and chance creation, but lamented defensive lapses during a pivotal ten-minute spell where City scored twice from set-pieces—a corner converted ruthlessly and a penalty dispatched with precision. Despite the reversal, Madrid pushed forward, generating opportunities but lacking the killer edge in front of goal, f...

5 Things We Learned from Tuesday's Champions League Action.

The Champions League returned to our televisions on Tuesday, with nine matches taking place throughout the evening.

Atlético beat Sparta Prague before Arsenal and Atalanta joined in, with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan also securing three points.

Arsenal have regained their mojo.

Sporting may have lost their manager during the international break, but their unbeaten streak has now ended, as Arsenal easily defeated the Lisbon side.

Sporting hadn’t lost a game all season and were undefeated at home in over a year.
Then Arsenal showed up… 


Arsenal were anticipated to have a stiff test in Portugal after defeating Manchester City 5-1, but they were 3-0 up at halftime and, despite an early Sporting goal in the second half, ran out convincing 5-1 winners.

Arsenal's return of Martin Ødegaard appears to have revived their side, and with him, they have returned to being one of the top sides in Europe.

Manchester City continues to suffer.

Manchester City's five consecutive losses had raised concerns about Pep Guardiola's team, but they appeared to get back on track against Feyenoord.

City were 3-0 up with 0.18 xG allowed and then conceded these three chances...

Until they didn't.

Goals each side of halftime gave them a 3-0 lead against the Dutch team, but three goals in the final 15 minutes brought Feyenoord level and stunned the Premier League champions.

It's been six games without a win.


 With Liverpool next up for Guardiola's team, how long will this bad form last?

Are Atalanta the competition's dark horses?

Last season's Europa League Champions are in excellent form, sitting one point behind the leaders in Serie A and undefeated in five Champions League games.

They kept up the pace against Young Boys, scoring five goals and moving up to fifth place in the League rankings.

Only four players have been directly involved in five goals in a single Champions League game since 2016/17:

◎ Neymar (2016) 
◎ Serge Gnabry (2021)
◎ Erling Haaland (2023)
◉ Charles De Ketelaere (2024) 🆕

It's the first time Atalanta have scored 5+ goals in a 
UCL game. 🖐️  


Charles De Ketelaere, a well-known player, assisted them in this endeavor. The Belgian was involved in each of his team's opening five goals.

With only three losses all season, may Gasperini's team be the dark horses in this year's competition?

Robert Lewandowski is Champions League royalty!

Robert Lewandowski has been at the peak of his game for over a decade and has now etched his name into Champions League history.

The Polish international netted a penalty in the first half against Brest, bringing his total to 100 in the tournament, trailing just Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

100 - Robert Lewandowski is the third player to reach 100 goals in Champions League, after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, being the one among the three that has needed the fewest shots to reach that figure (451, against 527 for Messi and 793 for Cristiano).

Legend.


He later added a second of stoppage time just for good measure.

With 22 goals in all competitions so far this season, the veteran is on track to shatter another record. He now tops the Champions League scoring chart.

PSG on the Ropes

Kylian Mbappé's departure from PSG was bound to cause problems, but Luis Enrique's side had hoped the impact would be considerably less severe than this.

A 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich, their third of the Champions League season, means they would likely need to win at least two of their remaining three games to advance to the competition's last 24.


In that time, they will face Salzburg, Monaco, and Manchester City. Though they are not yet out of the running, they are far behind the early pacesetters and must improve their performance. Fast.

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