A striking feat

MADRID — Kylian Mbappe slammed home two penalties for Real Madrid as the record 15-time winner opened its Champions League campaign with a controversial 2-1 comeback win over Olympique Marseille on Tuesday.

Timothy Weah opened the scoring for the French visitor, before Mbappe leveled from the spot and Madrid defender Dani Carvajal was sent off for headbutting Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Roberto De Zerbi's enterprising Marseille was well-placed to push for a famous win at the Santiago Bernabeu until Facundo Medina was harshly penalized for a handball and Mbappe converted his second penalty.

"For me it's a penalty, but I understand there are people who don't (think so), we're all lost with this rule," Mbappe, who reached 50 goals for the club, told Movistar.

"They say it's a penalty, I shoot it and put it in, that's all."

Madrid coach Xabi Alonso was dealt an early blow in his first European game at the helm of the Spanish giant, when Trent Alexander-Arnold limped off with a thigh injury, and his side had to scrap with 10 men after Carvajal's dismissal.

"The two goals came from penalties and our performance deserved more than that. We should have won by more goals and (not doing that) made the game tougher for us," Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.

"It was a good win to start with, but it got tricky."

Alonso benched Vinicius Junior among several changes to the side that beat Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday to continue Madrid's 100 percent start in La Liga.

It had a short preseason following the Club World Cup, giving Alonso more incentive to shuffle his pack, while the coach has also insisted he will keep as many players involved as possible.

Jude Bellingham was named on the bench for the first time after undergoing shoulder surgery in July, but neither he, nor the returning Eduardo Camavinga, made it onto the pitch.

Mbappe, who watched former side Paris Saint-Germain win the Champions League last season after he left for Madrid, almost opened the scoring with a spectacular overhead effort which dropped just wide.

Alexander-Arnold limped off after just three minutes, to be replaced by veteran Carvajal.

Franco Mastantuono, Real Madrid's youngest Champions League starter at 18 years and 33 days, hit the inside of the near post, as both teams sought to break the deadlock.

Rulli made a fine save from a fierce Mbappe strike, before Weah opened the scoring. Mason Greenwood picked Arda Guler's pocket and fed the US international, who slammed past Courtois at the near post for his first Marseille goal.

The Belgian goalkeeper denied Weah from distance, as the Juventus winger, on loan to the French outfit, impressed. Real Madrid equalized when Geoffrey Kondogbia clumsily bundled over Rodrygo Goes in the box.

Mbappe, in fine form at the start of the season, dispatched the penalty past Rulli's outstretched arm.

Swiftly to fifty

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang drilled just wide and then tested Courtois in the second half, as Marseille continued to give as good as it got.

Madrid finished its second game in a row with 10 men after Carvajal squared off with Rulli and then pushed his head into the goalkeeper's.

However, just as it did against Real Sociedad following Dean Huijsen's dismissal, Madrid finished with three points after Medina slid in to challenge Vinicius and the ball hit his arm. The referee awarded the penalty, which Mbappe gratefully dispatched, ensuring a fifth victory in five games across all competitions for Los Blancos.

It brought up Mbappe's milestone 50th goal in 64 appearances, the quickest a Madrid player has hit that tally since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2010.

"He's in a good moment, both personally and in a footballing sense, and I'm happy to be working with him," said Alonso.

AFP