Real Madrid left it late to produce a stunning comeback in their 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
In a week that's been dominated by talk of Jude Bellingham's underwhelming form, it was Vinicius Jnr who made the headlines after scoring a hat-trick for Los Blancos.
Dutch striker Donyell Malen opened the scoring after smashing an effort past Thibaut Courtois from close range in the 30th minute.
It only took four minutes for Dortmund to double their lead as Jamie Bynoe-Gittens found the back of the net to give the visitors a seemingly comfortable lead.
After dominating the first half, Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin decided to substitute Bynoe-Gittens for center-back Waldemar Anton, in a move that proved costly.
Just five minutes later, Real Madrid pulled one back through Antonio Rudiger, who popped up inside the box to dispatch a neat Kylian Mbappe cross.
From there, the floodgates opened for Madrid as Vinicius Jnr pulled them level just two minutes later after the ball fell to him inside the Dortmund penalty area.
The momentum firmly swung in Madrid's favor and in the final ten minutes of regular time, they pulled away from their German counterparts with ease.
Lucas Vazquez provided the goal that put them ahead after bursting into the box and firing it past Gregor Kobel from a tight angle.
Vinicius Jnr then struck twice to complete his hat trick and put the game beyond doubt, despite their shaky start.
Afterward, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised the 'extraordinary' Vinicius Jr and told a press conference he was convinced that the 24-year-old would win the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world on Monday.
'What I can say is that it's rare to see a player who plays a second half like Vinicius did. And not because of the three goals but because of his character; he's extraordinary,' Ancelotti said.
'Vinicius is going to win (the Ballon d'Or), not for what he did tonight, but for what he did last year. These three goals are already going to count for next year's Ballon d'Or, that's for sure. He is a player who gets whistled at because he can make a difference.'
In a rematch of last season's final, Ancelotti said there was no panic in the changing room after Real went into the halftime break two goals down, and that his side had the maturity and experience to understand what they needed to do to come back.
'We lived it calmly, calmly (over the break). We changed the system and came back playing more intensely,' Ancelotti said.
'Talking about scoring three goals might have seemed utopian, so we talked about small details like passing well, winning duels... We had to win the dynamic of the game and from there, you start to win the game.
'We were timid in the first half, we weren't intense on the ball and in the second half, we did better with more quality, more pressure. It was the best second half of the season.
'We have to learn from what we did in the second half. The aim is to start the game and not
In a week that's been dominated by talk of Jude Bellingham's underwhelming form, it was Vinicius Jnr who made the headlines after scoring a hat-trick for Los Blancos.
Dutch striker Donyell Malen opened the scoring after smashing an effort past Thibaut Courtois from close range in the 30th minute.
It only took four minutes for Dortmund to double their lead as Jamie Bynoe-Gittens found the back of the net to give the visitors a seemingly comfortable lead.
After dominating the first half, Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin decided to substitute Bynoe-Gittens for center-back Waldemar Anton, in a move that proved costly.
Just five minutes later, Real Madrid pulled one back through Antonio Rudiger, who popped up inside the box to dispatch a neat Kylian Mbappe cross.
From there, the floodgates opened for Madrid as Vinicius Jnr pulled them level just two minutes later after the ball fell to him inside the Dortmund penalty area.
The momentum firmly swung in Madrid's favor and in the final ten minutes of regular time, they pulled away from their German counterparts with ease.
Lucas Vazquez provided the goal that put them ahead after bursting into the box and firing it past Gregor Kobel from a tight angle.
Vinicius Jnr then struck twice to complete his hat trick and put the game beyond doubt, despite their shaky start.
Afterward, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised the 'extraordinary' Vinicius Jr and told a press conference he was convinced that the 24-year-old would win the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world on Monday.
'What I can say is that it's rare to see a player who plays a second half like Vinicius did. And not because of the three goals but because of his character; he's extraordinary,' Ancelotti said.
'Vinicius is going to win (the Ballon d'Or), not for what he did tonight, but for what he did last year. These three goals are already going to count for next year's Ballon d'Or, that's for sure. He is a player who gets whistled at because he can make a difference.'
In a rematch of last season's final, Ancelotti said there was no panic in the changing room after Real went into the halftime break two goals down, and that his side had the maturity and experience to understand what they needed to do to come back.
'We lived it calmly, calmly (over the break). We changed the system and came back playing more intensely,' Ancelotti said.
'Talking about scoring three goals might have seemed utopian, so we talked about small details like passing well, winning duels... We had to win the dynamic of the game and from there, you start to win the game.
'We were timid in the first half, we weren't intense on the ball and in the second half, we did better with more quality, more pressure. It was the best second half of the season.
'We have to learn from what we did in the second half. The aim is to start the game and not
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SportsTranscript
00:00Real Madrid left it late to produce a stunning comeback in their 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund
00:10on Tuesday night. In a week that's been dominated by talk of Jude Bellingham's underwhelming form,
00:15it was Vinicius Jnr who made the headlines after scoring a hat-trick for Los Blancos.
00:20Dutch striker Daniel Malan opened the scoring after smashing an effort past Thibaut Courtois
00:25from close range in the 30th minute. From there, the floodgates opened for Madrid as Vinicius Jnr
00:31pulled them level just two minutes later after the ball fell to him inside the Dortmund penalty area.
00:37Vinicius Jnr then struck twice to complete his hat-trick and put the game beyond doubt,
00:41despite their shaky start. Afterward, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised the
00:47extraordinary Vinicius Jnr and told a press conference he was convinced that the 24-year-old
00:51would win the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world on Monday.