Champions League: Real Madrid punish Inter errors to open title campaign with 2-1 win

MADRID - First it was a defensive turnover that led to a Kylian Mbappe score, then an embarrassing blunder by Spanish goalkeeper Josep Martinez that gifted Federico Valverde another score.

Just like that, in less than 25 minutes, Real Madrid had a two-goal lead on its way to an opening win in the league phase of the Champions League on Tuesday.

The 15-time European champions took advantage of Inter's mistakes to win 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.


The first goal came after a combination of defensive mistakes by Inter in the 14th minute: After receiving an imprecise pass backward, Yann Bisseck gave the ball away while under pressure. Brahim Diaz picked up the loose ball and quickly fed it to Mbappe, who entered the area to score his first European goal of the season. The forward now has scored in 11 consecutive Champions League seasons.

The second goal was a mistake by Martinez in the 23rd. The Spaniard tried to dribble the ball past Valverde inside the area but the Madrid midfielder was faster to get to the ball.

Martinez tried to change directions by pulling the ball behind his body but Valverde reached to it and poked it into the open net.

The Inter goalkeeper angrily picked up the ball from the back of the net and punted it away toward midfield as Madrid players celebrated.

"Our goals came when they went through a moment of difficulty, but I want to give credit to my players, Valverde's goal has to do with hard work," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said.

Martinez made a series of tough saves later on, including a close-range stop that kept Jude Bellingham from adding to the Madrid's lead just before halftime.

Inter reduced the gap when Carlos Augusto scored in the 77th.

After the match, Martinez chatted with Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. They hugged and exchanged jerseys. Courtois also made some difficult saves for Madrid.

The 28-year-old Martinez made one appearance with Spain's national team in 2021.