Real Madrid's late rally stuns Roma in 7-goal thriller

AS Roma v Real Madrid Real Madrid's late rally stuns Roma in 7-goal thriller Antonio Rüdiger's stoppage-time winner helped Real Madrid fight back from a two-goal deficit to earn Jose Mourinho a dramatic 4-3 victory at old club AS Roma in the Champions League. Mourinho was on course for a dispiriting return to the Italian capital as Marten De Roon's 20th-minute opener and, after Kylian Mbappé 's leveller, a brace by Donyell Malen put Gian Piero Gasperini's team in complete control. However, three goals from corners during a remarkable finale flipped the fixture on its head with Carlos Espi's goal after 83 minutes followed by late efforts from Endrick and Rüdiger to earn Real a stunning win. Madrid were rocked hours before kick-off when they discovered Vinícius Júnior had been hit with a four-match ban in LaLiga for his sending-off in a 1-0 win over Villarreal, but he was included in the line-up for Mourinho's return to Rome. The most eye-catching action early on at Stadio Olimpico was an enormous banner unveiled in the home end which showed Mourinho with the Conference League trophy he won during a successful three-year spell at Roma. After Yan Diomande squandered a decent opening for the visitors, Roma were forced into a change after 17 minutes when Manu Koné was injured. It failed to disrupt Gasperini's side as three minutes later they led through De Roon's strike. Roma attacked at pace after Real gave away possession carelessly and Matìas Soulè teed up De Roon, who fired in a powerful left-footed strike which wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois thanks to a deflection. Malen missed a great opportunity to double Roma's lead soon after and it came back to haunt the hosts with 25 minutes on the clock. After Diomande flicked on a header, Mbappe rolled Mario Hermoso with ease and then sent a long-range strike beyond Pierluigi Gollini to mark his 100th Champions League match with a goal. At the age of 27, Mbappé became the youngest player in history to reach a century of appearances in Europe's top competition. Lionel Messi had set the previous record at age 28 against Roma in September 2015. Jude Bellingham sent an effort wide before halftime, but it remained 1-1 until two goals in a decisive seven-minute spell in the second period decided the league phase contest. Vinícius was involved, albeit for the wrong reasons, after his flick was intercepted and within seconds Rodrigo Mora had played in Malen, who took a touch and finished past Courtois in the 51st minute. A third for Roma followed with 57 minutes played when one simple pass by Soule split the Real defence and Malen produced an accomplished finish to make it 3-1. It was initially ruled out for offside before VAR intervened to award the goal and Mourinho responded with Vinicius hooked immediately for Endrick. Real pushed for a way back and Gollini denied Mbappe twice in quick succession before substitute Espi provided a lifeline with seven minutes left when he tapped in after Endrick's header had been saved. Two minutes later and Stadio Olimpico was silenced when Brazil forward Endrick headed Arda Güler's corner home for a leveller. And there was still time for the grand finale when another Guler set-piece was tapped in by Rudiger. PA contributed to this report.