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Real Madrid staged an impressive comeback to defeat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Vinicius Junior netting a second-half hat-trick. Meanwhile, Aston Villa continued their perfect form, claiming the top spot in the standings.
Despite going two goals down in the first half with strikes from Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens, Madrid responded strongly in the second half. This marked a repeat of last season’s final, where Real Madrid triumphed 2-0 over Dortmund.
Vinicius shared insight into the team’s mindset at halftime, telling Movistar, “At 2-0 down, things were quiet in the dressing room, but our coach Carlo Ancelotti reminded us that if we could get the first goal, we could fight back and win.”
Madrid’s comeback began with Antonio Rudiger’s goal, followed by Vinicius leveling the score. Lucas Vazquez then put Madrid ahead, and Vinicius sealed the victory with two more goals in the final 10 minutes.
Following a surprising loss to Lille in their previous outing, this win brings Real Madrid back on track for a record 16th Champions League title, moving them to ninth place in the standings with six points. Malen had opened the scoring for Dortmund after a brilliant pass from Serhou Guirassy, followed shortly by Gittens’ goal to give the Germans a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Rudiger halved the deficit with a powerful header from a Kylian Mbappe cross in the 60th minute, and Vinicius equalized just two minutes later after VAR confirmed Mbappe was onside. Thibaut Courtois then made a crucial save at one end before Madrid launched a swift counterattack, with Vazquez scoring in the 83rd minute. Vinicius completed his hat-trick with goals in the 86th and 93rd minutes, the latter coming after a remarkable sprint from inside his own half.
Elsewhere, Arsenal secured a 1-0 home win against Shakhtar Donetsk, thanks to an own goal by the visitors’ goalkeeper, Dmytro Riznyk, after a rebound off the post from Gabriel Martinelli’s shot. Despite Leandro Trossard missing a late penalty, Arsenal secured their second victory of the tournament.
Aston Villa on top
Aston Villa are enjoying a dream return to the Champions League after 41 years, maintaining their 100 percent record with a 2-0 victory over Bologna. Manager Unai Emery praised his team’s focus and maturity, as John McGinn and Jhon Duran scored to send Villa to the top of their group with nine points and no goals conceded.
In other matches, Stuttgart defeated Juventus 1-0 in Turin with a stoppage-time winner from El Bilal Toure. Juventus were down to 10 men after Danilo received a second yellow card, but goalkeeper Mattia Perin initially kept them in the game by saving a penalty, only for Toure to strike in the 92nd minute.
PSV Eindhoven held Paris Saint-Germain to a 1-1 draw, with Noa Lang opening the scoring for PSV and Achraf Hakimi equalizing for PSG in the second half.
AC Milan secured a 3-1 win over Club Brugge at the San Siro, with Christian Pulisic and Tijjani Reijnders scoring twice to earn the victory for the Italians. Monaco cruised to a 5-1 home win over Red Star Belgrade, while Sporting Lisbon beat Sturm Graz 2-0 in Austria. Girona also recorded their first Champions League points with a 2-0 win against Slovan Bratislava.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, Barcelona will host Bayern Munich in a clash of five-time versus six-time champions, while Liverpool face RB Leipzig.
