Real Madrid topples roma in seven-goal classic
Antonio Rudiger and Jose Mourinho came back to haunt Roma as Real Madrid scored three goals in seven minutes late on to claim a thrilling 4-3 Champions League win.
Los Blancos were trailing 3-1 before Carlos Espi struck in the 83rd minute.
From there, Endrick and former Roma defender Rudiger completely flipped the script at Stadio Olimpico as Mourinho got one over on his old club.
Roma, encouraged by a roaring home crowd, made a fast start as Matias Soule curled narrowly wide after just 48 seconds before Mario Hermoso's curling effort was tipped away by Thibaut Courtois at full stretch.
Paulo Dybala poked wide from Nahuel Molina's cutback, and though Roma received a blow when Manu Kone was forced off with an injury, they took a deserved lead when Marten de Roon's first-time strike from outside the box was deflected past Courtois in the 20th minute.
However, Madrid equalised against the run of play as Kylian Mbappe, on his 100th Champions League appearance, capitalised on an error from Mario Hermoso before lashing past Pierluigi Gollini, bringing up his 500th goal involvement in club football in the process (378 goals, 122 assists).
Jude Bellingham missed a huge opportunity before half-time, sweeping past the right post, and it looked to be costly when Donyell Malen scored twice in six second-half minutes; he first beat Courtois at the near post after a brilliant pass from Rodrigo Mora, while his second was a routine finish following a clever pass from Soule.
Mbappe had a goal disallowed after the hour-mark, but substitutes Espi and Endrick swung the tide.
Endrick's initial header from a corner was kept out by Gollini, but Espi was on hand to tap in the rebound.
Roma was undone again two minutes later when Endrick headed in unchallenged from Arda Guler's corner, and Rudiger had the final say as he volleyed past Gollini in the 90th minute.
Antonio Rüdiger
Real Madrid CF
