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Real Madrid's stars shone brightly as they side-stepped Stuttgart to begin their Champions League title defence with a win.
On the back foot for a huge chunk of the opening exchanges, Real Madrid soon rallied themselves but needed a spectacular second-half, in which they scored three goals to beat Stuttgart 3-1.
The defending champions began the 2024/25 UCL campaign at home, hosting a Stuttgart side that punched above their weight in the Bundesliga side last season, finishing third.
While they showed some of the qualities that helped them attain such lofty heights last season, their success led to the loss of some of their standout players over the summer, including star striker Seirhou Guirassi, and the difference in quality was evident as they failed to bit for all of their bark in the encounter.
Key match details
Stuttgart boldly took the game to Real Madrid and inside the first half-hour, they had forced Thibaut Courtois into multiple saves one of which was a guilt edge one-on-one opportunity that fell to Enzo Millot.
However, Real's quality eventually began to show, with Kylian Mbappe posing a constant threat, with the support of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
The momentum shifted when a penalty decision was overturned after referee Halil Umut Meler consulted the pitchside monitor, revealing no contact between Germany international left-back Maximilian Mittelstadt and Antonio Rudiger. Los Blancos held the pressure for the rest of the half but could not break their opposition’s resistance.
Real's inevitability struck soon after the restart, as Rodrygo teed up Mbappe for a simple tap-in, his first UCL goal for the club.
Stuttgart refused to yield and in the 68th minute, Die Schwaben equalised through Deniz Undav's header from Leweling's cross. The match turned cagey, but Real Madrid’s sheer quality across the pitch was the key difference, as Luka Modric’s pinpoint cross found Rudiger, who headed home against his former club, restoring the lead.
Substitute Endrick sealed the win on his UCL debut, capitalising on a counter-attack, before ignoring the runs of Mbappe and Vinicius to release a low-driven shot that proved too much to handle for Nubel, who turned it into his own goal.
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