Expectedly, Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman had a great night for Atalanta and was on the scoresheet, but his effort was not enough to his Serie A club.

 Real Madrid were the dominant side of the night, winning 3-2 away at Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.

The slim win, no doubt kept the defending champion on slim hope of automatic qualification in the tournament should they pick vital wins in their last two matches at home.

A dominant first-half showing saw Madrid take a deserved lead through Kylian Mbappe, whose departure from injury before the interval changed the narrative of the game. Atalanta pounced on the uncertainty as Charles De Ketelaere scored a penalty with the final kick of the first half.

Vinicius Junior pounced on a fortunate deflection to restore Madrid’s advantage and Jude Bellingham scored soon after, but Atalanta slashed the deficit with Ademola Lookman’s fine strike from the edge of the box.

Atalanta had the momentum on their side and Lookman continued to torment Madrid’s makeshift defence, with the visitors forced to hold on and watch the clock tick down. Mario Retegui should have scored in the dying embers, volleying over from three yards out when it looked easier to score.

The final whistle was music to the ears of every Madrid fan. Three points take them to within a further three of the automatic qualification spots, although that gap could be stretched slightly after Wednesday’s matches.

RESULTS

Atalanta 2-3 Madrid

Girona 0-1 Liverpool

Brugge 2-1 Sporting

Zagreb 0-0 Celtic

Leverkusen 1-0 Inter

Brest 1-0 PSV

Leipzig 2-3 Aston Villa

Salzburg 0- PSG

Shakhtar 1-5

WEDNESDAY’S FIXTURES

Borussia Vs Barca

Juventus Vs Man City

Atletico Vs Bratislava

Lille Vs Sturm Graz

Milan Vs Zvezda

Arsenal Vs Monaco

Benfica Vs Bologna

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti hopes Kylian Mbappe will not be sidelined for an extended period after the striker paved the way for a 3-2 Champions League win at Atalanta on Tuesday but was forced off with an injury a few minutes after scoring the opener.

Real Madrid have endured a series of injuries this season, with several key players missing significant time, including Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao who are out for the rest of the campaign with ACL tears.

“Mbappe has suffered an overload, an ischial (lower pelvis) discomfort,” Ancelotti told Movistar Plus.

“It doesn’t seem serious, but we’ll see tomorrow after the exams. He couldn’t sprint, it was bothering him a bit and we decided to make the substitution.”

Facing heavy criticism for his poor form in his first few months with Real Madrid after signing as a free agent from Paris St Germain, Mbappe was having arguably one of his best games of the season at Atalanta, scoring the opener in the 10th minute and making menacing runs.

But his night lasted only 35 minutes, when he fell to the floor and asked to be substituted before being replaced by Rodrygo.

Vinicius Jr, who was returning to the side after missing the last two weeks with a muscle injury, was on the periphery for most of the game but made the most of the chance he got, netting in the 56th minute to put the visitors back in front after Charles de Ketelaere had equalised with a penalty right before the break.

Jude Bellingham extended Real’s lead three minutes later and, after Ademola Lookman reduced the deficit in the 65th, the visitors’ goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois worked his magic with a string of saves to secure a hard-fought win.

With two games left, Real are 18th in the 36-team table on nine points, three points off the top eight spots which secure direct qualification to the last 16. Atalanta are ninth on 11 points.

“It’s a very important victory, not everyone wins here,” Ancelotti said.

“We suffered and fought hard, there is no Champions League without suffering. They were pushing, but we started well in the second half. We are very happy. It was a win that is very good for us, not just for the points, but to build confidence.

“It’s still difficult to finish in the top eight, but we have two games to pick up points. Let’s see what happens.”

-Reuters

Liverpool maintained their 100% record in this season’s Champions League with a 1-0 win at Girona on Tuesday, the only goal of the game coming from Mohamed Salah’s second-half penalty.

Girona suffered their fifth defeat of the competition but made Liverpool work for the victory and in the opening half had chances to take the lead but were foiled by the visitors’ keeper Alisson.

Liverpool struggled against a side happy to sit back and soak up the pressure and break on the counter-attack but found the breakthrough from the penalty spot with Salah converting in the 63rd minute after Luis Diaz was fouled.

A sixth win from six keeps Liverpool top of the league phase standings on 18 points, five ahead of Inter Milan who are in action at Bayer Leverkusen later on Tuesday, while Girona remain on three points in 30th place.

-Reuters

Champions League – Girona v Liverpool – Estadi Montilivi, Girona, Spain – December 10, 2024 Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Albert Gea