Real Madrid found corners, and Roma lost the match there

Football Espana, citing The Guardian’s match report, describes a game that swung violently at the end but did not hide what came before it. Roma had built a real lead. Marten de Roon put them ahead, Kylian Mbappé equalised on his 100th Champions League appearance, and then Donyell Malen scored twice in a six-minute burst early in the second half to make it 3-1.

That should have been the shape of the night: Roma with the stadium, the score and the occasion. Instead, the same problem kept arriving from the same place. Carlos Espí scored first, Endrick followed, and former Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger struck the winner on his return to the Stadio Olimpico. Three late goals, all stemming from corners, is not just drama. It is repetition, exposure and panic compressed into a few minutes.

Roma can live with being tested by Real Madrid; plenty of teams are. What is harder to explain is failing three times in the same phase with the match almost closed. The report does not pretend Madrid dominated the evening from start to finish. It says Roma had held a two-goal advantage before the corner-driven finish turned the result.

There was another current running through the game because it was José Mourinho’s return to Roma, where he spent two-and-a-half years in charge and delivered a Conference League title as well as an Europa League final. Supporters, according to the report, displayed banners and sang in his honour. It made for one of those football scenes that feels generous right until the football itself becomes ruthless.

Football Espana also notes that Vinícius Júnior’s four-match ban for pulling an opponent’s hair in the previous league win over Villarreal was announced shortly before kick-off. Mourinho criticised the timing.

“They do things shamelessly now,” Mourinho said. “The cat is out of the bag now. Two hours before the match, a player must know he has a four-match suspension. Couldn’t they do it now? Couldn’t they do it tomorrow morning? Do we have to come by bus and almost arrive at the stadium when we find out?”

That was a separate flashpoint, and the source is careful on that point too. Vinícius featured, but the match report does not identify him as decisive in the comeback. The decisive pattern was much simpler and much harsher for Roma: Madrid kept winning corners, and Roma kept failing to clear the danger that came after them.