Atalanta leave the Gewiss Stadium to cheers in Real Madrid's win
De Ketelaere and Lookman kept visitors on the ropes despite Los Blancos' 3-2 victory
In the UEFA Champions League MD6, Real Madrid ran out 3-2 winners at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo at the end of a hotly-contested match.
After Real Madrid broke the deadlock on 10 minutes through Mbappé, the Nerazzurri retorted in kind by racking up plenty of chances following another Mbappé shot smothered by Carnesecchi: first came Lookman, who had his shot cushioned by a Madrid defender, followed by De Ketelaere, who got anticipated at the eleventh hour by the opposition, and Éderson, whose shot got walled by the Spanish rearguard. Coming full circle, Lookman closed the black-and-blue barrage with a ranged shot from the edge of the box. While Real threatened once again on 40 minutes as Rudiger nodded to the side, Atalanta levelled the scores on the brink of halftime: the Nerazzurri were in fact awarded a penalty after Kolašinac's encroachment was met with a Tchoumeni foul in the box. After stepping up to the penalty spot, De Ketelaere cleaved the ball under the roof of the net to close the first half in a 1-1 draw.
The second half opened up with Courtois' low save on Lookman's daisy-cutter on 55 minutes before the visitors quickly restored their lead through Vinicius Jr one minute later and Bellingham added another one in the 59th minute. Not giving in, an unyielding Atalanta pulled one back in the 65th through Lookman, who edged past Courtois with a precise finish towards the near post. Then came Brahim Diaz's over-the-bar finish following Carnesecchi's tampering and a Rodrygo finish that the Atalanta shot-stopper parried. Armed with courage and determination, Atalanta didn't give up but rather got to the shooting countless times, most notably with Retegui forcing Courtois' eleventh-hour save on 86 minutes. Retegui neared the equaliser on 94 minutes, when he went mere inches away to making it 3-3 on Lookman's cross. Real Madrid
ATALANTA - REAL MADRID
Scorers: Mbappè 10 (RM), De Ketelaere pen 45+2 (A), Vinicius 57 (RM), Bellingham 59 (RM), Lookman 65 (A)
Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Djimsiti (Kossounou 75), Hien, Kolašinac, Bellanova (Zappacosta 75), de Roon, Éderson, Ruggeri (Zaniolo 87), Pašalić (Samardžić 58), De Ketelaere (Retegui 75), Lookman. Unused bench: Rui Patrício, Rossi, Toloi, Godfrey, Palestra, Brescianini. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Fran Garcia, Brahim Diaz (Asencio 84), Ceballos (Modric 84), Valverde, Bellingham, Vincius Jr, Mbappé (Rodrygo 36). Unused bench: Lunin, Sergio Mestre, Arda Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Youssef, Chema. Coach: Carlo Ancelotti.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL);
Assistant referees: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL) and Adam Kupsik (POL);
Fourth official: Karol Arys (POL);
V.A.R.: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL);
A.V.A.R.: Tiago Martins (POR).
Notes: Tchouameni (RM), Kossounou (A) and Lucas Vazquez (RM) booked.