Real Madrid defeated Serie A leaders Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, securing an important three points as Real Madrid got back to winning ways in the competition.
Kylian Mbappe started off the scoring in the 10th minute, capping off an impressive individual performance and shaking off recent criticism of his form. The French superstar has now scored three goals in his last four games and has shown promising signs of returning to the best version of himself. Just before halftime, Real Madrid player Tchouameni was judged to have brought down Sead Kolasniac in the box, awarding a penalty to Atalanta who made it 1-1.
It took only 10 minutes after the second-half start for Real Madrid to claw back. Vinicius Jr. scored after a deflection fortuitously fell into his path. Three minutes later, Jude Bellingham scored to make it 3-1, after getting on the end of a pass down the right side of the pitch, going 1 on 1 with defender Marten de Roon and carving enough space to fire a powerful shot towards the far post. The English national has continued his fine run of form for Los Blancos by scoring a goal in each of his last 4 games and recording 2 assists. Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman pulled one back for the hosts six minutes later, firing a shot past Thibaut Courtois’ near post. The hosts were unable to push for an equalizer, and Real Madrid won the game 3-2.
It is a vital three points for Real Madrid in the new-look UEFA Champions League table, who were sitting 25th before their match, dangerously close to not advancing for the knockout rounds. With this victory, they are now in 18th place with 6 games played and 2 more to go before the conclusion of the group stage.
Until now, Atalanta had only conceded one goal in the group stage and was undefeated. They are now in seventh after three wins, two draws, and one loss. To give context to how congested it is in the middle of the table, only four points separate 26th and 7th place.
Real Madrid’s next match in the Champions League will be against Red Bull Salzburg, while Atalanta take on Austrian side SK Sturm Graz next week.
