Man City Player Ratings vs. Real Madrid: Gutsy Comeback Seals the Deal

Two goals in seven minutes earned Manchester City a comeback 2–1 Champions League win over Real Madrid at the Bernabéu,

Pep Guardiola’s side were punished for a lacklustre start by Rodrygo’s opener, but City responded with maturity and Nico O'Reilly scored his maiden Champions League goal to bring them level.

Erling Haaland continued his devastating Champions League form and buried a penalty just before half-time—a goal that turned out to be the winner—before City were able to contain Real Madrid’s attempts to mount a second half revival.

City are now firmly placed inside the top eight of the Champions League league phase, sitting fourth on 13 points with two games remaining, and in one of the biggest modern day European rivalries, got their revenge after being eliminated from Los Blancos from the competition a season ago.

Man City Player Ratings vs. Real Madrid (4-1-4-1)

Nico O'Reilly scored his first career Champions League goal. | Image Photo Agency/Getty Images

*Ratings Provided by FotMob*

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma—5.9: Rarely tested all night but could’ve done more to stop Rodrygo’s strike. Was inconsistent and looked rather nervy on the ball and whenever he had to step out of position.

RB: Matheus Nunes—7.8: After a shaky start he recovered and was a vacuum in City’s right flank, ending the match with seven recoveries.

CB: Rúben Dias—7.1: City’s defensive leader struggled to organized the backline during the opening exchanges but did well towards the end to protect the lead with a handful of key interventions.

CB: Joško Gvardol—7.9: Brilliant from the Croatia international. He was always in position to neutralise attacks and was at his best when Real Madrid pushed for an equaliser in the dying minutes, showing tremendous poise and character.

LB: Nico O’Reilly—8.3: Granted Rodrygo acres of space for Real Madrid’s opener. Made up for it almost instantly, though, appearing at the right place at the right time to score the equaliser in what was the crowning moment of a very strong performance.

DM: Nico González—7.7: Played on an island for much of the game with no defensive support from other midfielders, allowing Real Madrid to bypass him with relative ease whenever they decided to accelerate. Still, he balanced City almost single-handedly and managed some very solid interventions to stall attacks.

RW: Bernardo Silva—6.6: Although he didn’t have a major impact, the Portuguese was an outlet all over the pitch for City in possession. He was at fault for Real Madrid’s goal, though, giving the ball away.

CM: Rayan Cherki—7.5: Looked menacing as he often positioned himself perfectly between the lines to compromise the defence. Courtois is to blame for Cherki not adding his name to the scoresheet.

CM: Phil Foden—6.5: An underwhelming night given the recent calibre of performances he’s delivered. Was rarely involved in City’s most dangerous actions.

LW: Jérémy Doku—7.5: Was contained for much of the first half but completely took over the game after the break, terrorising Madrid’s backline with incisive dribbles that led to City’s best chances of the second half.

ST: Erling Haaland—8.0: Had the same amount of goals as completed passes in the first half, once again proving he doesn’t need to be constantly involved to make a significant impact.

Substitute	Rating (Out of 10)
Tijjani Reijnders (70’ for Cherki)	6.1
Omar Marmoush (70’ for Haaland)	6.1
Savinho (70’ for Foden)	6.7
Nathan Aké (88’ for Doku)	N/A

Subs not used: James Trafford (GK), Marcus Bettinelli (GK), Rayan Aït-Nouri, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb.

Real Madrid (4-4-2)

Starting XI: Thibaut Courtois; Federico Valverde, Raul Asencio, Antonio Rüdiger, Álvaro Carreras; Rodrygo, Dani Ceballos, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jude Bellingham; Gonzalo García, Vinicius Junior.

Subs used: Arda Güler, Brahim Díaz, Endrick.

Player of the Match: Nico O’Reilly

Real Madrid 1–2 Man City—How It Unfolded at the Bernabeu

Nico O'Reilly after scoring vs. Real Madrid. — Nico O'Reilly (middle) brought Man City level in the first half. | Angel Martinez/UEFA/Getty Images

Guardiola fielded a powerful XI aiming to avoid a second defeat of 2025 at the Bernabéu and looking to secure City’s fourth consecutive win.

But the plan nearly collapsed inside two minutes of the match as Matheus Nunes took down Vinicius Junior and referee Clément Turpin immediately signalled for a penalty-kick. The visitors dodged a bullet when VAR determined Nunes’ clumsy tackle happened just outside the penalty area, denying the hosts a chance to score from 12 yards.

Real Madrid continued to look like the better side, though, with City committing careless giveaways and leaving plenty of space in defence. Los Blancos took advantage to score the opener, as Jude Bellingham found a wide-open Rodrygo who entered the area and fired a shot into the bottom corner to bag his first goal in 32 matches.

The goal seemingly woke up City and they found the equaliser seven minutes later. Thibaut Courtois couldn’t hold on to Joško Gvardiol’s header from a corner and Nico O’Reilly pounced on the rebound to bring the visitors level.

City’s comeback was completed minutes later after Antonio Rüdiger rugby tackled Erling Haaland to the ground, gifting the visitors a penalty. The Norwegian stepped up and calmly sent Courtois the wrong way to give City the lead before the break.

Haaland 😴#UCL pic.twitter.com/glGOZu1oN4
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 10, 2025

Both sides had clear chances soon after the restart, but Jude Bellingham made a mess of an attempted chip from short range before Courtois made a sensational save at the other end to deny Rayan Cherki.

Guardiola’s charges failed to extend their one-goal advantage and the hosts began forcing them to retreat further and further back as the minutes ticked on. Endrick had a great chance to equalise for Real Madrid, but his header skimmed off the top of the crossbar.

Although the hosts continued their attacking onslaught in the final minutes, City were able to hold on until the final whistle, earning a very impressive away win against the 15-time European champions.