José Mourinho enjoyed a Roma reunion to remember on Wednesday as Real Madrid scored three goals in the final six minutes to overturn a 3-1 deficit and claim a 4-3 away win at the Stadio Olimpico in the Champions League.
Roma had looked the stronger side for long spells. Marten de Roon gave the hosts a deserved opener, only for Kylian Mbappé to level before the break on his 100th Champions League appearance. Two Donyell Malen strikes in the space of six minutes early in the second half then appeared to take the game away from the 15-time European champions as Roma ran rampant.
Madrid’s response was extraordinary. All three of their late goals stemmed from corners, with Carlos Espí, Endrick and the former Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger — scoring on his return to his old club — turning the game on its head in front of a stunned Olimpico crowd. “You could say there were two games in one,” Mourinho said afterwards. “Roma were better in all aspects early on. When it was 3-1 everyone probably thought the game was over.”
The Portuguese coach remains a popular figure in the Italian capital, having led Roma to the Conference League title and a Europa League final during two-and-a-half years in charge. He was honoured with banners and chants by the home support on a night that marked Roma’s first home Champions League match in more than seven years.
Elsewhere, Fredrik Sjøvold’s 52nd-minute strike gave Bodø/Glimt a 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, extending the Norwegian side’s remarkable home record against Europe’s elite. Bodø were the better team and led just after the break; Dortmund improved over the final half hour but could not reply, despite a late chance for Felix Nmecha. “There’s nothing we can complain about, we deserved to lose,” said the Dortmund coach, Niko Kovac. “We didn’t bring enough passion today – that’s something Bodø did much better. They took the lead and after that we woke up, but by then it was too late.” Dortmund join Manchester City, Inter and Sporting as recent big-name scalps on the artificial turf of Bodø’s Aspmyra Stadium. The club’s run to the last 16 last season was built on a strong record at the 8,200-capacity ground, officially the smallest venue in this season’s competition.
Shakhtar Donetsk marked their move into a new Champions League “home” at Stamford Bridge by coming from behind to beat AEK Athens 3-1. The Greek side led in the 28th minute through Lovro Majer, but Pedrinho levelled confidently from the penalty spot six minutes later. With about 10 minutes of normal time remaining, Vinicius Tobias found the net from a tight angle, and substitute Gleiker Mendoza made the result safe by cutting in from the left and smashing home. Shakhtar, from eastern Ukraine, are using Chelsea’s ground as the base for their European fixtures this season, with the London club absent from continental competition. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK has given refuge to 265,000 Ukrainians according to the Ukrainian embassy in London, and fans from that expatriate population helped swell Wednesday’s crowd to 29,000.
Real Betis beat Porto 3-2 in a bad-tempered game in Seville, with Isco scoring the winner and Abde Ezzalzouli netting a contender for goal of the week. Ezzalzouli struck from the corner of the penalty area into the top corner at the far post after the break. Gabriel Veiga equalised with a fine free-kick and sparked a scuffle between rival players with his celebration, drawing three bookings. Porto substitute Samu Aghehowa, a Spain international, scored two minutes after coming on, only for another substitute, Cucho Hernández, to equalise in the 74th minute, before Isco settled it late from the penalty spot.
Stuttgart maintained their 100% record in this season’s league phase with a 3-0 win against Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. Earlier, Anis Hadj Moussa scored twice as the Dutch leaders Feyenoord came from behind to beat visiting Como 3-2.