Real Madrid 2-2 Club Brugge: Casemiro completes comeback after first-half horror show
Real Madrid fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Club Brugge on Tuesday thanks to a late equaliser from Casemiro.
The visitors stunned the Santiago Bernabeu in the first half through two goals from Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis, but Sergio Ramos and Casemiro clawed back a point for Zinedine Zidane’s side.
A 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on matchday one had led to some speculation over Zidane’s position as head coach and the nature of their first-half display against Brugge will have done little to ease the pressure.
The comeback, secured after Ruud Vormer’s red card, at least spared some of Madrid’s blushes and means they are only a point behind Brugge in Group A, who drew with Galatasaray in their opening match.
Match stats – Real match 2006 Kiev comeback
• Real Madrid have gone at least two goals behind in a Champions League match without losing the game for the first time since December 2006 against Dynamo Kiev (2-2).
• Club Bruges are unbeaten in six Champions League matches (W1 D5), having lost eight in a row before this run.
• Bruges’ opening goal was their earliest in a Champions League game at eight minutes nine seconds.
• Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos has scored in 10 different seasons in the Champions League, becoming the second defender to do so after Gerard Pique.
• Aged 21 years and 320 days, Emmanuel Dennis became the third youngest player to score at least twice in a single game against Real Madrid in the Champions League, after Alexandre Pato in 2009-10 (20y 49d) and Dele Alli in 2017-18 (21y 204d).
• Dennis became the third Nigerian to score against Real Madrid in the Champions League, after James Obiorah for Lokomotiv Moscow in 2002-03 and Ayila Yussuf for Dynamo Kiev in 2004-05.
EKOW ESSILFIE
