ALEX MERET’S unfortunate own goal handed Real Madrid a 3-2 win at Napoli on Wednesday which moved the Spanish giants top in Champions League Group C.
Italian international goalkeeper Meret could do nothing to stop Federico Valverde’s powerful, deflected shot crashing out off the bar and back into the goal off his outstretched arm 12 minutes from the end of an entertaining clash in Naples.
That unlucky rebound maintained Madrid’s perfect start to the group stage and moved them three points clear of both the Italian champions and Braga.
“It was a difficult match, very hard-fought right until the last minute,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to Sky Sport in Italy.
“It seems absurd to me that that goal is given as a Meret own goal… Valverde is a great player and a great midfielder, he creates a lot and that was a great strike.”
Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham scored the away side’s other goals on former Napoli coach Ancelotti’s return to southern Italy, giving Madrid a half-time lead after Leo Ostigard headed the hosts in front in the 19th minute.
England midfielder Bellingham, who also set up Vinicius’ smart low finish, has now scored eight times in his first nine Madrid matches in all competitions and looked a class above most of the other players on the pitch.
“What’s so amazing about Bellingham is that he’s only 20. He has great quality, a strong personality and character,” added Ancelotti.
“He’s a young man of 20 who’s showing everyone what extraordinary talent he has.”
Piotr Zielinski had given Napoli hope that they could build on a recent burst of good form when he smashed in a 54th-minute penalty harshly given for a Nacho handball while challenging Victor Osimhen.
Nigeria forward Osimhen was playing for Napoli after backing supporters following a row with the club over an insulting video on social media, telling his countrymen that they were not racist.
- Napoli shaken -
Tuesday’s match took place in a city shaken by a series of earthquakes in recent days and the Stadio Maradona rocked as the two teams went straight at it from kick-off.
Madrid were more dangerous in the opening exchanges, Rodrygo and Bellingham having respective efforts stopped by Meret and Mathias Olivera in the first 11 minutes.
But shortly afterwards Ostigard struck first blood for Napoli, powering in a header after Kepa Arrizabalaga flapped at Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s cross and Natan looped an effort of his own off the crossbar.
Napoli had their tails up but a sloppy pass from captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo allowed Bellingham to pounce and help bring Real level in the 27th minute.
Bellingham nipped in to intercept Di Lorenzo’s ball into midfield from the right flank and only had to make a couple of steps before feeding Vinicius who calmly slotted home his first goal since mid-August.
And Bellingham silenced the previously boisterous crowd seven minutes later with a touch of pure class, collecting a pass in midfield before bursting forward, brushing off Ostigard and thumping home.
Kepa made up for his error for Napoli’s goal six minutes before the break when he pulled off a super stop to deny Osimhen’s bullet header from Matteo Politano’s whipped cross.
Napoli were not downhearted and were rewarded for their enterprising play when referee Clement Turpin decided after checking the pitch-side monitor that Nacho had handled while challenging Osimhen.
Ancelotti was dumbfounded while Zielinski crashed his penalty past Kepa and in off the post, and not long after the Pole stung the Madrid keeper’s gloves with a powerful drive from just outside the area.
The introduction of Luka Modric helped turn the match in Madrid’s favour, and Bellingham should have put them back in the lead when he headed wide after Vinicius’ stinging shot was well saved by Meret.
But Meret could only look on in horror as Valverde was bundled by his teammates in celebration following a goal which gave Madrid the initiative in what looks to be a tight group.
Teenage Bayern Munich striker Mathys Tel struck late as his side came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 2-1 in their Champions League clash in the Danish capital on Tuesday.
Bayern lacked fluidity and struggled against an impressive Copenhagen side, who grabbed the lead early in the second half thanks to Lukas Lerager’s opener.
With Bayern in danger of losing their first Champions League group stage match since September 2017, Thomas Tuchel’s men upped the ante, Jamal Musiala equalising with a superb solo effort.
Tel, brought on in the 77th minute alongside Thomas Mueller with just seven minutes remaining, collected the ball from the Bayern veteran before unleashing a winner past the helpless home goalkeeper Kamil Grabara.
Super-sub Tel has now scored five of his six goals after coming off the bench and ensured Bayern won their 15th group stage match in a row.
Tuchel told Amazon Prime he had been trying to replace Musiala when the forward scored the equaliser.
“He’s returning from a muscle injury and we’d tried to take him off,” Tuchel said with a smile.
Bayern captain Joshua Kimmich thanked Mueller and Tel, who came off the bench to combine for the winner. “We’ve got great quality on the bench and they’ve saved us often this season.”
- Bayern full strength -
Injury-hit Bayern came into the match with only two recognised centre-backs and had spent the week courting former defender Jerome Boateng, 35, in the hopes of securing a short-term deal.
Even with a full contingent, Bayern had been worryingly leaky in defence in recent weeks, with 10 goals they have conceded in the past four matches too many for a side who spent big in the summer hoping for a seventh European title this season.
Despite Tuchel’s frequent complaints of a “thin” squad, he named a full-strength side including star striker Harry Kane, speaking before the match of his “great respect for every Champions League opponent”.
The first half went by largely without incident, Bayern again struggling to find fluidity against an opponent willing to press hard and fight as they did in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at RB Leipzig.
While the German champions were able to rebound immediately in that match to overcome a two-goal deficit to draw, Copenhagen drew first blood, taking the lead 10 minutes into the second half.
Bayern’s Kim Min-jae blocked a powerful shot from winger Viktor Claesson, but the ball fell to Lerager, who crashed in a first-time shot.
The shellshocked visitors looked to get back in the game immediately and dominated possession, but Copenhagen fought hard, wanting to avoid again dropping points from a winning position as they had done while 2-0 up at Galatasaray to draw in their opening game.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Musiala took it upon himself to drag Bayern back into the game, shedding two defenders while holding a third at bay to slam home past Grabara.
As he has done several times this season, Tuchel turned to Tel and the 18-year-old striker delivered almost immediately, scoring a stunner just six minutes after coming on to give Bayern the lead.
With less than a minute remaining, Bayern ‘keeper Sven Ulreich got his fingertips to a loose ball from a cross, helping the club keep their stellar group stage record intact.
Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time goal lifted PSV Eindhoven to a 2-2 draw at home to Sevilla, who twice went ahead through Nemanja Gudelj and Youssef En-Nesyri only to be pegged back.
Luuk de Jong’s penalty looked to be vain until Teze popped up in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Finally, Marcus Thuram gave Inter Milan a 1-0 Group D victory over Benfica
Earlier, Braga overturned a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 at Union Berlin, an injury-time strike from Andre Castro helping to spoil the German side’s home Champions League debut on Tuesday.
Sheraldo Becker, named Union captain for just the third time, took advantage of the home side’s early dominance to score a first-half brace.
Braga, top scorers so far in the Portuguese Primeira Liga this season, fought back immediately, Sikou Niakate pouncing on a Union mistake to score, before Bruma unleashed a stunner to level the scores early in the second half.
In the fourth minute of injury time, Castro, subbed on with three minutes remaining, slid a fierce shot into the bottom left corner, to give his side the win.
Union’s first Champions League game in Berlin was moved by the club to the 74,000-seat Olympic Stadium ground of rivals Hertha Berlin, from the 22,000-seat Alten Foersterei home in the city’s east.
It meant more late heartbreak for Union, having been beaten by Jude Bellingham’s injury-time strike away to Real Madrid on Matchday One.
In the other early evening kick off, Real Sociedad won 2-0 away to RB Salzburg.
Additional reporting by Press Association
