Real Madrid (Spain), the most successful club in UEFA Champions League (UCL) history with 15 titles, secured their second consecutive win by pulling off a dramatic late comeback against AS Roma (Italy).

Real Madrid defeated Roma 4-3 in their away match for the 2026-2027 UCL league phase Matchday 2 held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on October 15.

Having beaten Inter Milan (Italy) 2-1 in their opening match on September 9, Real Madrid claimed their second straight win (6 points) to cruise through the early stages of the league phase.

Roma, after drawing 1-1 with Fenerbahce (Turkey) last month, suffered a defeat in this match, remaining winless with 1 draw and 1 loss (1 point) from two games.

After conceding the opening goal to Marten de Roon in the 20th minute of the first half, Real Madrid leveled the score just five minutes later when Kylian Mbappé fired a powerful mid-range shot from the right side of the penalty arc.

With the first half ending 1-1, Roma gained momentum at the start of the second half.

In an attack that started from a Real Madrid passing error in the 6th minute of the second half, Donyell Malen scored to restore the lead for Roma.

Then, in the 12th minute of the second half, Malen calmly finished a sharp through ball from Matías Soulé inside the penalty area, putting Roma ahead 3-1.

The goal was initially called offside, but was recognized after a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Afterward, Real Madrid sought a counterattack by substituting out Vinícius Júnior and Denzel Dumfries for Endrick and Arda Güler.

Although Real Madrid missed an opportunity when Mbappé's shot following a dribbling breakthrough hit the back of the net only to be ruled offside in the 23rd minute of the second half, they dramatically turned the game around by scoring three goals in an eight-minute span from the 37th to the 45th minute of the second half.

Carlos Espí scored to narrow the deficit to one goal in the 37th minute of the second half, and three minutes later, Endrick scored the equalizer with a header from a corner kick.

In the 45th minute of the second half, Antonio Rüdiger bundled in a right-wing corner kick taken by Güler, becoming the protagonist of the precious comeback winning goal.

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) of France won 4-2 in their away match against Manchester City (England) to claim their second consecutive win in the league phase (6 points).

Désiré Doué in the 13th minute of the first half, Ousmane Dembélé in the 15th minute, and Vitinha in the 32nd minute unleashed a flurry of goals as PSG dominated Manchester City away from home.

Although they conceded a goal to Erling Haaland in the 8th minute of the second half, Maghnes Akliouche scored an early insurance goal for PSG in the 18th minute of the second half.

Haaland scored another goal in the 30th minute of the second half, but it was overshadowed by his team's defeat.

Manchester City suffered a comprehensive defeat with former manager Pep Guardiola visiting the stadium, leaving them with 1 win and 1 loss (3 points).

Elsewhere, Aston Villa (England) routed Fenerbahce 6-0 to move into the top tier with two straight wins, while Liverpool (England) defeated LASK (Austria) 6-3, and Stuttgart (Germany) beat Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) 3-0, similarly securing their second consecutive victories.

Hwang In-beom, a midfielder for Porto (Portugal) who recently caused a national team retirement controversy with fellow 1996-born players Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) and Hwang Hee-chan (Schalke) during the international break, came on as a substitute in the 26th minute of the second half and played about 20 minutes in the away match against Real Betis (Spain) for Matchday 2 of the league phase.

Porto suffered a 3-2 comeback defeat against Real Betis, remaining in the lower ranks without earning any points after two consecutive losses.

Betis secured two straight wins, jumping into the race for direct qualification to the Round of 16.

In this season's UCL league phase featuring 36 teams, each team plays eight matches, with the top 1 to 8 teams advancing directly to the Round of 16, while those ranked 9 to 24 vie for a spot in the Round of 16 through playoffs.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)