Champions League round-up: Real Madridpulled off a stunning Champions League comeback when they twice fought back from a goal down as Cristiano Ronaldo netted a 90th-minute winner in a 3-2 Group D win at home to Manchester City.
City stunned the Bernabeu when substitute Edin Dzeko raced clear to make it 1-0 in the 69th minute before Marcelo equalised eight minutes later with a deflected effort.
The English champions were ahead again five minutes from time when Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas failed to deal with Aleksandar Kolarov’s inswinging free kick but the home side snatched victory in a frenetic ending.
Karim Benzema made it 2-2 in the 87th minute with a low shot that sneaked inside the post before Ronaldo cut in from the left and his powerful drive flew into the net off goalkeeper Joe Hart to send the crowd into raptures.
“It’s not on. You can’t go 2-1 up and lose the game,” said Hart. “We can only blame ourselves. They are a very good team and so are we. We dug deep, got a lead twice and threw it away. It’s hard to come off the field after losing 3-2 and be positive.”
Real were under pressure to produce a convincing European performance after a stuttering start to their La Liga campaign and made their intentions clear early when Ronaldo forced two fine saves from Hart.
City barely had a sniff of goal in the first half, while Real striker Gonzalo Higuain fluffed two clear chances, one when he was clean through with only Hart to beat and the other when he volleyed over from close range.
Twice in the second period it looked as if City might pull off a smash and grab raid in the home of the nine-times winners but each time Real found an answer.
Ronaldo's dramatic late winner prompted wild celebrations among the Real faithful and under pressure coach Jose Mourinho performed a celebratory knee slide onto the pitch.
“It is a good win because the DNA of my team is back,” Mourinho said.
In the other match in the group,
Borussia Dortmund
were stifled by a hard-working
Ajax
defence at home but snatched a last-gasp 1-0 win with a Robert Lewandowski goal.
The German champions, looking to make an impact in Europe after winning consecutive Bundesliga titles, were frustrated at home after seeing Mats Hummels's 58th-minute spot kick saved.
Marco Reus and Lewandowski also squandered second half chances to take the lead before the Pole controlled the ball in the box, turned and fired in the winner in the 87th.
With heavyweights Manchester City and Real Madrid also in the group, Dortmund are hoping to crash the party and finish in the top two to advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP B
Arsenal
got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start after coming from behind to beat
Montpellier
2-1 in France.
Manager Arsene Wenger, serving the first of his three-game touchline Uefa ban, would have been fuming from the stands when captain Thomas Vermaelen gave away an early penalty, converted by Younes Belhanda, although replays suggested the foul was probably just outside the box.
However, the Premier League club, coached by assistant boss Steve Bould from the sidelines for the first time, responded magnificently and were soon level through a fine finish by German Lukas Podolski.
Before the French side, making their Champions League debut following last season’s brilliant Ligue 1 campaign, could recover, Arsenal swept ahead on 18 minutes through Gervinho.
Although the hosts rallied after the break, with lively winger Remi Cabella hitting the crossbar and Belhanda missing a great chance late on when he fired straight at stand-in goalkeeper Vito Mannone, the Gunners closed out a battling victory.
In the other game
Schalke
beat
Olympiakos
2-1 in Greece, with their goals coming from Benedikt Hoewedes and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Djamel Abdoun scored for the Greek side.
GROUP C
AC Milan
produced another disjointed home performance as they were held 0-0 by
Anderlecht
in their opening Group C match at a restless and one-third full San Siro.
Anderlecht goalkeeper Silvio Proto produced four outstanding saves to frustrate Milan who created more chances despite being outplayed for long periods.
The highlight for Proto came when he somehow blocked a point-blank header from substitute Stephan El Shaarawy just after the hour.
Anderlecht, back in the Champions League after a six-year absence, should have gone ahead shortly before that when Dieudonne Mbokani flicked the ball through to Lucas Biglia who burst into the area but fired over with only goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to beat.
Milan were jeered off by a 27,000 crowd at the 80,000 capacity San Siro after failing to score for the third straight home game this season, having suffered 1-0 defeats by Sampdoria and Atalanta in Serie A.
Malaga
proved too strong for
Zenit St Petersburg
at La Rosaleda, winning 3-0 thanks to two goals from Isco and one from Javier Saviola.
GROUP A
Paris St Germain
produced some brilliant football to make a dream start to their campaign with a 4-1 Group A home win against Dynamo Kiev.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring from the penalty spot, Thiago Silva netted on his debut, Alex made it 3-0 and Javier Pastore wrapped up the victory with a fourth in stoppage time.
The French club, who have spent over €200 million on players since being taken over by Qatari investors over a year ago, were never really threatened by the visitors who got a late consolation through Miguel Veloso.
Carlo Ancelotti's side will next travel to
Porto
, who snatched a 2-0 win at
Dinamo Zagreb
.
