Mbappe can’t rescue Real Madrid in Champions League loss to Lille

Real Madrid's French forward Kylian Mbappe (L) controls the ball next to Lille's Kosovo forward Edon Zhegrova during the UEFA Champions League football match between Lille LOSC and Real Madrid at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, northern France, on October 2, 2024. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 12 December 2024
Follow

Mbappe can’t rescue Real Madrid in Champions League loss to Lille

Kylian Mbappe came off the bench but couldn’t prevent defending champion Real Madrid from losing 1-0 at unheralded Lille in the revamped Champions League on Wednesday.

With Mbappe a substitute after a minor hamstring injury, the opening goal came from Canada striker Jonathan David ‘s penalty deep into first-half stoppage time. A video review ruled that midfielder Eduardo Camavinga handled the ball.

David scored a hat trick last weekend and shot confidently past goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was replacing the injured Thibaut Courtois. Mbappe came on in the 57th.

It was Madrid’s first loss in the competition since a 4-0 hammering by Manchester City in the 2023 semifinal return leg.

Brazil teenager Endrick became the youngest Champions League starter for Madrid at 18 years, 73 days old. He surpassed the mark set by former Madrid great Raúl González, who was 18 years, 78 days old when he faced Ajax in 1995.

Liverpool coach Arne Slot got his first taste of a European night at Anfield and saw his team beat Bologna 2-0, thanks to goals from midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and prolific forward Mohamed Salah.

Substitute Jhon Duran scored a late winner to give Aston Villa another 1-0 win against Bayern Munich.

When the sides met in the 1982 European Cup final, Villa won 1-0 in a big upset. Prince William was born that year, and he was cheering in the Villa Park crowd when Duran pounced late on.

Coach Unai Emery sent the 20-year-old Duran on in the 70th and the Colombia forward — who has made a habit of scoring goals from the bench — did it again with a brilliant left-footed effort from around 25 meters to beat Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Juventus had goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio sent off in the 59th for a handball yet still won 3-2 at Leipzig.

Slovenia forward Benjamin Sesko scored both goals for Leipzig but Serbia’s Dusan Vlahovic did the same for 10-man Juve before Francisco Conceição netted in the 82nd.

OTHER MATCHES

Earlier, Atalanta and Feyenoord got their first wins in the competition’s second round of matches.

Italian side Atalanta coasted to a 3-0 win over Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, Dutch club Feyenoord secured a gritty 3-2 win at tournament newcomer Girona.

Albanian Berat Djimsiti, Nigerian Ademola Lookman, and Italian Raoul Bellanova scored for Atalanta in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. It was officially a home game for Shakhtar, which is playing at German club Schalke’s stadium because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Girona led through center-back David López’s close-range finish, but the visitors equalized with an own goal from Yangel Herrera and took the lead on Antoni Milambo’s 31st-minute strike.

Donny van de Beek made it 2-2 but another own goal, this time from Ladislav Krejci, gave Feynoord — Slot’s former club — victory in a match where both teams missed a penalty.

Kerem Akturkoglu, veteran Ángel Di Maria, Alexander Bah and Orkun Kokcu scored for Benfica in a 4-0 rout of Atletico Madrid; and Monaco netted a last-minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Dinamo Zagreb thanks to Denis Zakaria’s penalty.

Also, Sturm Graz lost 1-0 at home to Club Brugge, which won thanks to a curling strike from Christos Tzolis.


Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise

Updated 08 December 2025
Follow

Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise

  • Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins

MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.