LONDON: Real Madrid’s big stars turned on the style to revive the Spanish giants’ faltering Champions League title defence on Tuesday.

Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win at Serie A leaders Atalanta. But Real still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage time when handed a golden chance to level the game.

It was only Real’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place.

“It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins here. We suffered and competed. In the Champions League, you have to suffer,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “It’s still difficult to finish in the top eight, but we have two games left to earn points.”

The top eight teams qualify directly for the last 16 when the league stage concludes in January with those placed ninth to 24 entering a play-off round to reach the next phase.

Six-time champions Liverpool lead the way after Mohamed Salah helped maintain their perfect record with a 1-0 win at Girona to claim a sixth victory out of six.

Bayer Leverkusen leapfrogged Inter Milan into second after Nordi Mukiele’s late goal in a 1-0 home success — the first goal the Italians have conceded in the revamped competition.

Aston Villa, in their first appearance in the continent’s elite club competition for 41 years, jumped up to third thanks to Ross Barkley’s winner in a thrilling 3-2 victory at RB Leipzig, who are without a point and are eliminated.

Michael Olise scored twice as Bayern Munich thumped Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 to rise into the automatic last-16 places with Atalanta just behind in ninth.

Like Real, Paris St Germain also picked up a much-needed win, beating Salzburg 3-0 to sit in the last playoff spot in 24th place.

Fellow French side Brest are fifth in a dream debut season after a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven.

In other games, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb remained in contention for the knockout round after an uninspiring 0-0 draw and Club Brugge beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1.

After three losses in their opening five games of the league phase, the pressure was mounting on Real.

Questions were also being asked of Mbappe after his uncertain start since his offseason move from PSG. But he produced a moment of class to fire Madrid 1-0 up after 10 minutes at Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo — controlling the ball with his left foot and then finishing low with his right.

It was the 25-year-old Mbappe’s 50th Champions League goal. Lionel Messi is the only player to have reached that number at a younger age.

Mbappe was substituted off before halftime with an apparent physical issue and Charles De Ketelaere leveled the game before the break from the penalty spot. But two goals inside three second-half minutes from Vinicius and Bellingham put Real in control.

Ademola Lookman’s goal made it 3-2, but Real survived Retegui’s late effort and held on to move to nine points and settle any nerves ahead of games against Salzburg and Brest in January.

In Spain, Salah’s 63rd-minute penalty proved decisive against dogged debutants Girona after the hosts had dominated the first half.

Under new coach Arne Slot Liverpool are virtually assured a place in the last 16.

“If you ask me about all six games, I’m really pleased with all the results... [but] I’m far from pleased about the performance tonight,” Slot told reporters in Girona. “[We had] hardly any control at all over the game, maybe the second half was a bit better but then I’m trying to be positive.”

The Reds were on the back foot in the first half at the modest Estadi Montilivi as Liverpool keeper Alisson — returning from two months out - was constantly busy.

But the Catalans paid the price when Donny van de Beek was adjudged to have fouled Luis Diaz in the box as the Colombian lost his boot.

Salah sent Paulo Gazzaniga the wrong way to net his 50th Champions League goal, pulling the Egyptian level with Filippo Inzaghi as the 10th highest goalscorer of all-time in the competition.

The winger is out of contract at the end of the season but his 16 goals across all competitions have been essential in Liverpool’s superb first half of the season.

Girona stay 30th and currently out of last-16 contention after just one win.

LEVERKUSEN RISING

Leverkusen are back on a roll after struggling to repeat the success of last season’s stunning Bundesliga and German Cup double.

It’s now six straight wins in all competitions, with Mukiele scoring in the 90th minute to inflict a first defeat across six games in this season’s competition on Serie A champions Inter and moving Leverkusen into second on 13 points — five behind Liverpool.

Villa, Inter and Brest are all on 13 points as well.

Villa are third after their own resurgence in form. Victory against Leipzig was its third in a row after an eight-game winless run.

Villa had led twice through John McGinn and Jhon Duran, but equalisers from Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner kept Leipzig in it until substitute Barkley struck five minutes from time.

Brest are one of this season’s surprise packages on their Champions League debut and Julien Le Cardinal’s first-half strike was enough on the Brittany coast to dish out defeat to former European champions PSV.

France international Olise produced a moment of magic to set the seal on Bayern’s demolition of Shakhtar and ease them towards the knockout stage.

Olise’s brilliant stoppage-time run and finish capped the victory for the Germans, in which he had early scored from the penalty spot, in Gelsenkirchen.

Kevin’s fifth-minute strike had given the home side the perfect start, but Konrad Laimer levelled before Thomas Muller’s 55th goal in the competition sent the visitors in ahead at the break and set the stage for Olise’s double either side of Jamal Musiala’s strike.

The Shakhtar home game was played at Schalke 04’s stadium in Germany due to the war in Ukraine.

“We didn’t have a great start going behind but we didn’t panic and continued doing our thing,” Musiala told Amazon Prime.

PSG put the wheels back on their stuttering campaign with a much-needed three points on the road at Salzburg.

A miserable start to the league phase saw the French giants pick up just four points from five games as they adjusted to life without stars like Mbappe, Messi and Neymar, who have all departed in the past two seasons.

But goals from Goncalo Ramos, Nuno Mendes and substitute Desire Doue — his first in the competition — moved PSG up into the playoff positions.

Casper Nielsen came off the bench to fire 14th-placed Brugge to victory at home over Sporting, in 12th, after Eduardo Quaresma’s own goal had handed them a way back into the game following Geny Catamo’s early opener.

Kasper Schmeichel’s save from Marko Pjaca’s close-range 80th-minute header ensured Celtic returned from Zagreb with a draw.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2024