First-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde helped Real Madrid begin its Champions League 2026-27 campaign with a 2-1 win over Inter Milan.
Inter enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and numerous scoring opportunities- 21 shots in total. But two major defensive errors which Real made sure to capitalise on hurt the side badly.
Mbappe opened the scoring against the run of play in the 14th minute after defender Yan Bisseck gave away the ball to Brahim Diaz, who calmly passed the ball to the Frenchman before he did the rest.
Valverde, sporting the captain’s armband, doubled Madrid’s advantage in the 23th minute as Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez was caught having the ball in his feet for too long by the Uruguayan.
Inter, despite the two setbacks, continued to create chance after chance only for it to all go to waste. Real, on the other hand, relied more on the counter attack to pose its attacking threat and trouble Inter’s defensive line.
Los Blancos nearly found their third goal before half-time but an incredible double-save by Martinez, making amends for his earlier error to keep the scoreline at 2-0.
Inter reduced the deficit in the second half through a Carlos Augusto strike in the 77th minute and in the dying minutes of the game, the visitor continued to follow its template from the first-half, building up from the back-line all the way up to the front in search for the equaliser.
However, Real, who itself squandered a couple of one-on-one opportunities to extend its advantage, managed to hold on and see the game through.
PLAYER RATINGS
Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois (8.5); Denzel Dumfries (6.8), Ibrahima Konaté (6.5), Dean Huijsen (7.5), Marc Cucurella (7.0); Trent Alexander-Arnold (6.0), Federico Valverde (8.0), Jude Bellingham (6.5); Brahim Díaz (8.0), Kylian Mbappé (8.0), Vinícius Júnior (6.5). Subs: Aurélien Tchouaméni (6.0), Álvaro Carreras (6.0), Carlos Espí (6.0), Yan Diomande (6.0).
Inter Milan: Josep Martínez (5.5); Benjamin Pavard (6.0), Yann Aurel Bisseck (5.5), Alessandro Bastoni (6.5); Andy Diouf (6.5), Nicolò Barella (6.5), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (6.0), Curtis Jones (6.0), Carlos Augusto (7.8); Lautaro Martínez (6.5), Marcus Thuram (6.0). Subs: John Stones (6.5), Ange-Yoan Bonny (6.0), Piotr Zieliński (6.0), Petar Sučić (6.0), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (6.0).
Published on Sep 09, 2026
