AS Roma 3-4 Real Madrid (Mbappé, Espí, Endrick & Rüdiger). A classic comeback in Rome… This is the immediate reaction to the crazy win. More: Player ratings, interview quotes and a podcast.
Real Madrid are not garnering much excitement ahead of fixtures these days, and a trip to the Italian capital to face Roma only provided another awkward encounter to overcome. Yan Diomande continued to play, mixed in with Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham. Vinícius Júnior was also present in the line-up, as Arda
Güler and Bernardo Silva were benched. Fede Valverde captained the team.
Roma kicked off the game with four long-shots, all causing some concern for Thibaut Courtois. They then took the lead from outside of the area, as a central shot fooled the diving Courtois. Kylian Mbappé spared Madrid’s blushes momentarily with a clever turn and slightly fortunate effort. Marc Cucurella and Jude Bellingham would come close, but Madrid would finish the half with the standings at 1-1.
Donyell Malen was dangerous in the first-half, and opened the scoring in the second with a low effort deflected past Thibaut Courtois. He would become a bigger problem after being let through onside to score his second, and a Roma third. Kylian Mbappé seemingly pulled one back but the flag was correctly raised for offside. Arda Güler, Carlos Espí and Endrick were brought on, only for Espí to continue his super-sub run, latching onto a header from a corner. The other substitute, Endrick – then gave Madrid a lifeline after scoring a header to equalise. Antonio Rüdiger would complete the turnaround, scoring another goal coming from the corner flag. It did end up being awkward, but Real Madrid somehow came out with the 4-3 victory. What did you make of that display?
