Jude Bellingham starred again as Real Madrid fought back from two goals down to beat rock-bottom Almeria 3-2 in an incident-packed clash at the Bernabeu.
Following a mixed week that saw them beat Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup before being knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Atletico Madrid, Real looked on course for a shock defeat as winless Almeria led 2-0 at half-time through Largie Ramazani and Edgar Gonzalez goals.
But Real, benefitting from three key VAR decisions going in their favour, turned things around with Bellingham starting the revival with a penalty – his 18th goal of the season – before Vinicius Junior equalised.
Real then laid siege to the Almeria goal and, in the ninth minute of stoppage time, Brahim Diaz picked out Bellingham at the far post and the 20-year-old’s header back across the area was turned home by Dani Carvajal for a dramatic winner.
Real’s last-16 cup defeat to Atletico went to extra time on Thursday and Carlo Ancelotti’s men looked as if they were still half asleep as Almeria took a shock lead inside 40 seconds on Sunday.
Nacho Fernandez’s intended pass to left-back Ferland Mendy was intercepted by Sergio Arribas and Almeria clinically took advantage, captain Lucas Robertone ending up sliding the ball through to Ramazani to fire past Kepa Arrizabalaga.
That should have been an early wake-up call for Real, but it was not heeded by the 14-time European champions.
They were sloppy in possession and lacked inspiration going forward, and the closest they came to making it 1-1 was Almeria defender Juan Chumi deflecting a cross onto the roof of his own net.
And things got worse for the title-chasing hosts in the 43rd minute when Almeria doubled their lead.
Nacho was again involved but few could have expected his poor clearance to be so emphatically punished, with Gonzalez unleashing a 25-year-old thunderbolt that flew into Kepa’s top corner.
That was a rare goal from the 26-year-old defensive midfielder and, with the score 2-0 at half-time, left Almeria dreaming of a famous win.
Ancelotti, clearly unimpressed at what he was seeing, made three changes at the break and a fired-up Real pulled a goal back inside 10 minutes.
Almeria players were furious to see a penalty awarded for handball against Kaiky, a decision made following a VAR review, but Bellingham stayed calm amongst the furore to roll his penalty down the centre of the goal.
If Almeria were upset up that incident, they were incandescent six minutes later when they had a goal to put them 3-1 up ruled out following another VAR intervention.
Real youth-team product Arribas thought he had scored against his former club after a counter-attack, but the goal was chalked off due to a flailing arm from Dion Lopy into the face of Bellingham after the England man had given away possession in midfield.
That was not the last of the VAR controversies either, with Vinicius’ 68th-minute equaliser eventually being given after another lengthy review.
Referee Francisco Hernandez Maeso had initially ruled out the goal for handball against the Brazil winger, but that was overruled following replays with ball deemed to have hit the forward’s shoulder, leaving Almeria coach Gaizka Garitano – who would end up being red carded in stoppage time – again unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
Having drawn level, Real set about searching for a winner and Bellingham saw his curled effort ruled out for offside before Almeria goalkeeper Luis Maximiano superbly denied Vinicius.
Bellingham also saw a spectacular overhead kick go inches wide but, with time almost up, Real would finally get the breakthrough as Carvajal pounced on Bellingham’s knock-down.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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