Champions League: Mourinho’s Real Madrid stage crazy comeback on Roma return

José Mourinho enjoyed a Roma reunion to remember as Real Madrid completed an astonishing comeback by scoring three late goals to claim a 4-3 away win in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Marten de Roon gave the hosts a deserved opener before Kylian Mbappé struck back on his 100th Champions League appearance to level the scores at the break. Two Donyell Malen strikes in the space of six minutes early in the second half seemed to take the game away from the 15-time European champions as Roma ran rampant.

But Madrid scored three goals in the final six minutes, all stemming from corners, to turn the game on its head as Carlos Espí, Endrick and the former Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger struck at a stunned Stadio Olimpico.

“You could say there were two games in one,” Mourinho said. “Roma were better in all aspects early on. When it was 3-1 everyone probably thought the game was over.”

Mourinho was a popular figure as he led Roma to the Conference League title and Europa League final during two-and-a-half years in charge. The Portuguese coach was honoured with banners and chants by the home crowd in Roma’s first home Champions League match in more than seven years.

Fredrik Sjøvold’s 52nd-minute strike secured a 1-0 victory for Bodø/Glimt over Borussia Dortmund , extending the Norwegian side’s remarkable home record against Europe’s elite.

Bodø were a cut above the 2024 Champions League runners-up and took the lead through Sjøvold just after the break. Dortmund improved in the final half hour but were unable to strike back, despite a late chance for Felix Nmecha.

“There’s nothing we can complain about, we deserved to lose,” said the Dortmund coach, Niko Kovac. “We didn’t bring enough passion today, that’s something Bodø did much better. They took the lead and after that we woke up, but by then it was too late.”

Dortmund join Manchester City, Inter and Sporting as recent big-name scalps on the artificial turf of Bodø’s Aspmyra Stadium. Bodø’s run to the last 16 last season was underpinned by an excellent record at their 8,200-capacity home, officially the smallest venue in this year’s competition.

Nomadic Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk celebrated moving into their new Champions League “home” at Stamford Bridge by storming back to beat AEK Athens 3-1.

The Greek side took the lead in the 28th minute through Lovro Majer but Pedrinho levelled confidently from the penalty spot just six minutes later. With about 10 minutes of normal time to go, Vinicius Tobias found the net from a tight angle and the substitute Gleiker Mendoza made the game safe, smashing home after cutting in from the left.

Shakhtar, from the east of Ukraine, are using Chelsea’s ground as the base for their European fixtures this season, with the Londoners absent from continental competition.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK has provided refuge to 265,000 Ukrainians, according to the Ukrainian embassy in London. Fans from the expat population turned out in force on Wednesday, swelling the crowd to 29,000.

Isco scored the winner and Abde Ezzalzouli netted a contender for goal of the week as Real Betis defeated Porto 3-2 in a bad-tempered game in Seville.

Ezzalzouli struck the ball from the corner of the penalty area into the top corner at the far post after the break. Gabriel Veiga equalised with a fine free-kick and set off a kerfuffle between rival players with his celebration. Three players were booked.

The Porto substitute Samu Aghehowa, a Spain international, scored just two minutes after coming on, only for Cucho Hernández, another substitute, to equalise in the 74th. Isco got the winner late with a penalty.

Stuttgart continued their 100% record in this season’s league phase with a 3-0 win against Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. Earlier, Anis Hadj Moussa scored twice as the Dutch leaders, Feyenoord , came from behind to beat visiting Como 3-2.