Jude Bellingham (C) celebrates a goal for Manchester City. Photo: photosport
Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham has struck a last-gasp goal to give the holders a 3-2 first-leg victory over Manchester City in an edge-of-your-seat Champions League knockout phase playoff.
Kylian Mbappe and Brahim Diaz also struck for Real, to cancel out a double from City's Erling Haaland.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Josko Gvardiol chested the ball down to the 24-year-old Norwegian, who volleyed into the far corner. The goal was given after fans held their breath through a four-minute VAR check for offside.
Kylian Mbappe levelled in the 60th minute with a rebound off a free kick, awkwardly bobbling the ball off his shin while falling, before it looped over goalkeeper Ederson and into the net.
Haaland struck from the penalty spot in the 80th minute - awarded after Dani Ceballos took down Phil Foden by his right knee in the box - sending keeper Thibaut Courtois the wrong way. But then Diaz pounced on a poor clearance of Vinicius Jr's shot by Ederson, and tapped home the ball.
England international Bellingham scored the winner in the 92nd minute when Vinicius looped the ball over from the left and the Englishman got in front of John Stones to tap home.
"I'm very happy for the win, for the team's work, we played a very complete game and I think it was a really good performance," Diaz said.
"I'm happy for the goal and for helping the team ... I feel we played a great match, it's not easy here, against a pretty good team... but there's still the second leg and the work is not finished."
Real and City failed to advance automatically to the last 16 as one of the top eight sides in the Champions League table, in the new league-phase format, meaning one of the tournament's top contenders will be eliminated early.
The second leg is 19 February in Madrid.
Dembele earns PSG win
Paris St Germain seized control of their playoff with a commanding 3-0 first-leg win at Brest, driven by a brace from forward Ousmane Dembele.
The match, which marked only the second time two French sides had faced each other in Champions League history, was dominated by a clinical PSG despite Brest also having their chances.
PSG broke the deadlock after 21 minutes, with Vitinha converting a penalty after Pierre Lees-Melou's handball.
Brest were very much in the match when Abdallah Sima's header hit the post just after the half-hour mark.
The visitors, however, doubled their lead when Dembele cut inside from the right flank and beat the keeper at his near post with a low strike in the final minute of the first half, scoring in his eighth consecutive match for PSG.
Just after the break, PSG's Desire Doue was played through and slotted home with ease, but after a minute-long VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 66th minute, Dembele secured his brace, latching onto a loose ball in the box before sending a shot past Brest keeper Marco Bizot.
The 27-year-old Dembele has now scored 18 goals in his last 11 matches, while PSG are unbeaten against Brest in their last 31 encounters, with their last defeat coming in 1985.
Juventus gain first-leg lead
Juventus substitute Samuel Mbangula snatched a late winner as the Italian giants beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the first leg of their knockout phase playoff tie.
The Belgian's 82nd minute close-range finish handed Juve a slender advantage to take to the Netherlands for next week's return leg after PSV fought back from a halftime deficit.
A thunderous strike from Weston McKennie had put the hosts into a 34th minute lead but Ivan Perisic, who turned 36 this month, put PSV level 10 minutes into the second half.
Both sides, who have previously won Europe's top club prize, had chances in a flowing game and will feel they can progress to the last 16 in the return encounter next Wednesday.
Dortmund cruise past hosts
Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy scored one and set up another in a 3-0 victory at Sporting in their playoff first leg to put last year's finalists in the driving seat for a spot in the last 16.
Champions League top scorer Guirassy headed in his 10th goal of the competition on the hour mark before providing Pascal Gross with a perfect assist to double the lead in the 68th.
Karim Adeyemi added another in the 82nd minute, completing a five-touch textbook counter-attack, to mark a winning European debut on the Dortmund bench for Niko Kovac, who took over last week and saw his team lose at home to VfB Stuttgart in the league on Saturday.
The Portuguese side hit the woodwork in a solid first half but quickly ran out of gas after the break.
-Reuters
