Champions League: Real Madrid boost hopes with narrow win over Inter

On target
Real Madrid's Rodrygo, right, celebrates his goal with teammates. Photo: AFP

Real Madrid boosted their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages after a late winner by substitute Rodrygo gave them a 3-2 home victory over Inter Milan in an absorbing Group B clash on Tuesday.

The result left Real, winners of a record 13 titles in Europe's premier club competition, level on four points with Shakhtar Donetsk, one point behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach and two ahead of bottom placed Inter.

Real had thrown away a two-goal lead and were flirting with a defeat which would have piled more pressure on manager Zinedine Zidane before their Brazilian duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo combined to save the day.

Chances had gone begging at either end before Karim Benzema gave the home side a 25th-minute lead, rounding goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and slotting home after intercepting a dreadful back pass by Real's former wing-back Achraf Hakimi.

The hosts seemed to be cruising after 33 minutes when Sergio Ramos headed their second -- his 100th goal for the club in all competitions -- but Lautaro Martinez pulled one back for Inter two minutes later thanks to a sublime assist by Nicolo Barella.

Real were rattled when Ivan Perisic equalised midway through the second half, threading a shot into the far corner from close range after Martinez headed the ball into the Croatian's stride.

Inter then missed a pair of gilt-edged chances as Martinez shaved the outside of the post with a shot from the edge of the area and Perisic fired wide, with Real's defence in tatters.

The Italians were punished for their misses, however, as Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, brought into the fray together by Zidane shortly before Inter's equaliser, carved out the winner from a lightning fast break.

Vinicius Junior raced clear of his marker down the left flank and squared the ball back to Rodrygo, who beat Handanovic with an unstoppable shot into the top corner from 10 metres.

Inter are now under pressure halfway through the group stage to turn their fortunes around and will hope to have striker Romelu Lukaku back for the reverse fixture on November 25 after the Belgium striker missed the match with a thigh injury.

Liverpool striker Diogo Jota netted his first hat-trick for the club as they thrashed Atalanta 5-0 with a blistering performance to go five points clear at the top of Group D after three straight wins.

Hat-trick hero
Liverpool's Diogo Jota, centre, celebrates scoring their second goal with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, right. Photo: Reuters

Atalanta's mauling was the worst home defeat ever suffered by an Italian side against an English team in European competition and means Liverpool will qualify for the last 16 with a victory in the reverse fixture on November 25.

Portugal forward Jota's clinical treble continued the scintillating start to his Liverpool career, while Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane also got on the scoresheet in a superb display from Juergen Klopp's Premier League champions.

City sail past Olympiakos

Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Joao Cancelo were on target as Manchester City made it three wins out of three in Group C with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos at the Etihad Stadium.

The result leaves City three points clear of Porto at the top of the group, and a single point in the return fixture on Novembers 25 would secure progress for City to the knockout stage.

The results: Group A: Lokomotiv Moscow drew with Atletico Madrid 1-1; Salzburg lost to Bayern Munich 2-6.
Group B: Shakhtar Donetsk lost to Borussia M'gladbach 0-6; Real Madrid bt Inter Milan 3-2.

Group C: Manchester City bt Olympiakos 3-0; Porto bt Olympique Marseille 3-0.

Group D: Midtjylland lost to Ajax 1-2; Atalanta lost to Liverpool 0-5.

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