Mourinho’s Real Madrid rally from 3-1 down to beat Roma 4-3 in Champions League
José Mourinho’s Real Madrid scored three late goals to overturn a 3-1 deficit and secure a 4-3 win at Roma’s Stadio Olimpico in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Roma took the lead through Marten de Roon before Kylian Mbappé levelled on his 100th Champions League appearance to make it 1-1 at the interval; Donyell Malen then struck twice early in the second half to put the hosts 3-1 ahead. Real Madrid responded with three goals in the final six minutes, all originating from corners, scored by Carlos Espí, Endrick and Antonio Rüdiger. The match marked a high-profile return for Mourinho to the club he previously managed, and the home crowd greeted him with banners and chants in Roma’s first home Champions League match in more than seven years.
Malen’s two goals, struck within a six-minute spell early after the break, looked to have put the game beyond the 15-time European champions before Madrid’s late turnaround. The three Madrid goals that completed the comeback arrived in quick succession in the closing stages and changed the scoreboard at a stunned Stadio Olimpico.
Real’s victory came amid off-field controversy: the club’s winger Vinícius Júnior, who featured in the game, had been handed a four-match ban for pulling an opponent’s hair during Saturday’s league win over Villarreal. The decision was announced shortly before the match kicked off in Rome and left Mourinho publicly angry with Spain’s football authorities. “They do things shamelessly now,” Mourinho said. “The cat is out of the bag now. Two hours before the match, a player must know he has a four-match suspension. Couldn’t they do it now? Couldn’t they do it tomorrow morning? Do we have to come by bus and almost arrive at the stadium when we find out?”
Fredrik Sjøvold’s 52nd-minute strike secured a 1-0 win for Bodø/Glimt over Borussia Dortmund in Norway, extending Bodø’s strong record on home artificial turf. Dortmund improved in the final half hour but could not find an equaliser despite a late chance for Felix Nmecha. “There’s nothing we can complain about, we deserved to lose,” said the Dortmund coach, Niko Kovac. “We didn’t bring enough passion today – that’s something Bodø did much better. They took the lead and after that we woke up, but by then it was too late.” Bodø join Manchester City, Inter and Sporting among high-profile teams beaten at Aspmyra, which has an 8,200 capacity and is officially the smallest venue in this year’s competition; their run to last season’s last 16 was underpinned by an excellent home record.
Nomadic champions Shakhtar Donetsk celebrated moving into their new Champions League “home” at Stamford Bridge by coming from behind to beat AEK Athens 3-1. Lovro Majer gave AEK the lead in the 28th minute before Pedrinho converted a penalty six minutes later to level. With about 10 minutes of normal time remaining Vinicius Tobias scored and the substitute Gleiker Mendoza made the score safe, smashing home after cutting in from the left. Shakhtar are using Chelsea’s ground as the base for their European fixtures this season, with the London club absent from continental competition; fans from the Ukrainian expat population swelled the crowd to 29,000 and, according to the Ukrainian embassy in London, the UK has provided refuge to 265,000 Ukrainians since the invasion began.
Real Betis defeated Porto 3-2 in Seville as Isco scored the winner and Abde Ezzalzouli produced a long-range strike described as a contender for goal of the week from the corner of the penalty area into the top corner after the break. Gabriel Veiga had levelled with a free-kick and his celebration sparked a kerfuffle that led to three bookings. Porto substitute Samu Aghehowa, a Spain international, scored two minutes after coming on, Cucho Hernández equalised in the 74th minute, and Isco converted a late penalty for the decisive goal. Elsewhere, Stuttgart beat Slovan Bratislava 3-0 to maintain a 100% record in this season’s league phase and Anis Hadj Moussa scored twice as Feyenoord came from behind to defeat Como 3-2.
Shakhtar’s arrangement to use Stamford Bridge as their European base this season is confirmed, with the club operating their continental fixtures from the London ground while Chelsea do not participate in European competition.