Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Champions Real Madrid’s qualification for the knockout stage of the Champions League suffered a major setback as they were beaten 1-3 at home to AC Milan on November 6.
The defeat leaves Real Madrid with six points from its first four matches in the tournament, with a visit to play Liverpool at Anfield next on the agenda, and more than the result, coach Carlo Ancelotti will be worried by a poor performance from his side, who had a rest at the weekend.
The game was just 12 minutes old when Malick Thiaw put Milan ahead with a near-post finish from a corner that was poorly defended by the home side, reports Xinhua.
Real Madrid reacted well and was level after 23 minutes when the VAR decreed a penalty against Vinicius Jr committed by Emerson, who left his foot high to bring down the winger.
Vinicius picked himself up and scored with a chipped penalty into the middle of the Milan goal.
On many occasions, Real Madrid goes on to overwhelm rivals, but Milan didn’t allow themselves to be intimidated by the equalizer, and after Tijani Reijnders forced a fine save from Andriy Lunin, Spain international Alvaro Morata restored their lead.
Morata, always the subject of jibes in the Bernabeu, reacted faster than anyone to nod home after Lunin had done well to save from Rafael Leao.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti brought on Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz at halftime but it didn’t inspire his side, with Leao wasting a counter-attack and Morata hitting the woodwork, before Reijnders made it 3-1 from close range after a powerful run down the left from Leao.
Antonio Rudiger thought he had pulled a goal back with 10 minutes left, but his volley after Mark Maignan’s poor clearance was ruled out for a very tight offside.
