SAN FRANCISCO, November 03, (THEWILL) –Â Real Madrid’s Rodrygo struck with only 10 minutes left to earn the Spanish champions a 3-2 win and deny Inter after they had battled back from two goals down in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane had labelled the Group B match a “final” and his side made a bright start thanks to Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos – the latter scoring his 100th goal for the club.
Inter, who entered the contest one point ahead of their opponents, battled back through well-taken strikes from both their forwards Lautaro Martinez and Ivan Perisic either side of half-time.
However, Madrid regained their lead late on when substitutes Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo combined on the counter, making it one win in seven for Inter and under-pressure boss Antonio Conte.
Marco Asensio was denied by a smart Samir Handanovic save and Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella scraped the top of the crossbar with a header in a lively and end-to-end start to the showdown.
Then in the 25th minute, Benzema pounced on Moroccan midfielder Achraf Hakimi’s underhit backpass, rounded Inter goalkeeper Handanovic and tucked the ball into an empty net for the opener.
Ramos made it two for Madrid eight minutes later by losing his marker to meet a Toni Kroos’ corner and head in from the edge of the six-yard box.
Inter rallied as Nicolo Barella superbly flicked the ball into the path of Martinez to pick out the bottom-left corner past Real goalie Thibaut Courtois, 10 minutes before the interval.
Inter were without injured striker Romelu Lukaku and found it hard to get at their opponents in a quieter second half in the Spanish capital. And, against the run of play, Martinez nodded the ball into the path of Perisic, who held off left back Lucas Vazquez before rifling across Courtois.
Then, both sides went in search of a winner but it was Madrid who found it via Vinicius. The Brazilian winger led a break down the left and fed the ball to fellow Brazilian Rodrygo, who found the top-right corner to win the match during the closing stages and give Real a massive victory.
Borussia Monchengladbach now lead the way after crushing second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 earlier on Tuesday. These results mean there is very much all to play for in this tight Group B.
At the bottom of the group, Inter are aware that nothing but a win will keep their hopes of progressing to the next stage alive when they go into the reverse fixture with Zidane’s side.
What a match this was for legendary defender, Ramos. Just three days after making his 500th La Liga appearance, the Spaniard crossed off another milestone with his 100th goal for Madrid in all competitions, 55 of which came via his head.
Madrid make a trip to Valencia on Sunday in their last La Liga outing before the international break, while Inter travel to Atalanta in Serie A on the same day.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
