Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr., and Kylian Mbappe all scored goals as Real Madrid ended a two-game losing streak in the Champions League on Tuesday, winning 3-2 against Atalanta.
Following Mbappe’s goal from inside the box in the tenth minute before he was substituted due to injury, Real dealt the Serie A leaders their first loss in the Champions League’s redesigned format this season.
Aurelien Tchouameni tripped Sead Kolasinac from behind shortly before halftime, and Charles de Ketelaere levelled with a penalty.
However, Vinicius Jr. scored a rebound in the 56th minute to give the visitors the lead again.
Three minutes after launching a counterattack, Bellingham increased their lead.
However, Ademola Lookman cut the gap in the 65th minute, and Real custodian Thibaut Courtois made a series of saves to seal a hard-fought victory.
With two games remaining, Real is three points outside of the top eight slots, which guarantees direct entrance to the round of sixteen, and 18th in the 36-team standings with nine points.
After dropping into the playoff spots, Atalanta is currently in ninth place with 11 points.
Real Madrid has had difficulty defending their European title after an incredible season in which they won record-extending La Liga and Champions League trophies.
Before travelling to Italy to play Atalanta, who were undefeated in the campaign and had only given up one goal, they had lost three of their last four continental games.
Mbappe, who has come under fire for starting Real Madrid inconsistently, got off to a strong start and pushed Marco Carnesecchi to make a few excellent early stops, but the goalie was powerless to stop the France captain from handing Real the lead.
With a single touch, he expertly controlled a Diaz pass to take the ball past a defender and put himself in the box, where he scored with a low strike from inside the box.
Everything was going great for the visitors until Mbappe was substituted by Rodrygo in the 35th minute due to what appeared to be a muscle issue.
De Ketelaere equalised with a rocket into the top corner after Antonio Ruediger missed a close-range sitter in the 39th, but just as Atalanta were starting to gain confidence after the interval, they gave Vinicius a rebound that he did not miss.
Courtois made crucial saves to deny Raoul Bellanova, Mateo Retegui, Matteo Ruggeri, and Lazar Samardzic to seal the victory when Lookman tucked home a low effort from the edge of the box after Bellingham had made it 3-1 minutes earlier.
