David Hytner was at the Bernabéu. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.

Pep Guardiola, ever the perfectionist, talks to TNT Sports. “It could be better … so difficult … four or five players were playing their first game here … so perhaps we were not completely ready … it’s a process … a lot of new players … winning here, we have to be happy … to have 13 points already … top eight is the target … winning here after what happened against Leverkusen is good … we started with mistakes … we have to improve but I will take it! … [Nico O’Reilly] was top, top … [Erling Haaland’s] numbers speak for themselves … we have to find him more … more present in the game … we are not ready [to win the Champions League] … but in February we will be better … margins to improve.”

This is what the table looks like after the completion of all the matchday-six matches. Manchester City leapfrog Real Madrid into fourth spot. They play Bodø/Glimt (a) and Galatasaray (h) in January, so you’d expect them to secure a top-eight berth and direct qualification for the round of 16. Real face Monaco (h) and Benfica (a) in the New Year.

More from Haaland, who is being his usual laid-back, entertaining self. “You could see after one minute [Raúl] Asencio was starting to push me and tried to beef with me [highly amused smile] … it’s something I like … I don’t mind it! … of course [Antonio] Rüdiger as well … we’ve been having some great battles … today he wanted a bit too much! … for me a clear penalty.”

As for chasing down Arsenal in the Premier League: “I don’t like to speak too much about this because I think we should focus on ourselves … which City has been so good at for the last ten years … don’t think too much about others … try to win the next game … that’s what we need to do … focus on Palace on Sunday … a really tough game … it is not easy … it’s about enjoying this now for a few hours but tomorrow you need to recover as well as you can … stay fit … hopefully win on Sunday.”

Erling Haaland talks to TNT Sports. “It’s difficult to come here … tough … the game gets how it gets … loads of transitions … we could have had another goal … a bit chaotic … we could not control it … but we are super happy … this is a place you want to play … look at this, it’s incredible … with this new format in the Champions League, you get to play more games … it’s nice, I like it … this win is really important … now we have two more games left … we need to finish strong and hopefully we can be in the first eight … we expected [Kylian Mbappé] to play … you are not happy because you want to play the best … but it gives you a psychological boost.”

Player of the match Nico O’Reilly speaks to TNT Sports, and he’s as calm and assured being interviewed as he was tonight in defence. “Such a good feeling … to come here … so tough to play here … we got the three points and that’s the most important thing … [my goal is] very special … over the moon with it … this goal will be with me forever … [Erling Haaland] has been giving me a few tips! … I’m loving [this season] … taking it all in my stride … take every game as it comes … I’m enjoying it, loving it … we know how good Real Madrid are … it shows how good we’re playing at the minute … I could have stopped the first goal but I made up for it in the end!”

Manchester City are deserved winners. Their response to falling behind to Rodrygo’s first goal in 32 matches was excellent. Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly were magnificent; the centre-back pairing of Rúben Dias and Joško Gvardiol weren’t half bad either. City to a man are delighted, Pep Guardiola almost skipping lightly across the Bernabéu turf. By contrast, Real Madrid’s players stand stock still, staring into the middle distance. As impressive as City were, they were extremely poor tonight. That’s two defeats on home soil in four days, and the pressure on Xabi Alonso is cranked up almost unbearably. Some reports from Spain earlier in the week suggested defeat tonight would be fatal to his brief reign; well, here we are.

90 min +4: Vinícius Júnior hits a cross-cum-shot from the left. Donnarumma stoops to claim, and that’s surely that.

90 min +3: Real continue to pin City back, but can’t get a shot away. The visitors holding firm.

90 min +2: Savinho races in from the right but his shot is blocked. Real counter through Vinícius Júnior, who curls for the top right only to hit his own man in Arda Güler. The ball pings out for a goal kick. A lot of whistling. There’ll be a lot more soon, too, unless Real can find a late, late equaliser.

90 min +1: The first of four additional minutes goes by. City close to a huge victory. Xabi Alonso in all sorts of bother here.

90 min: Silva lunges in late on Brahim Díaz, cynically so with Real looking to break upfield. He’s booked and will miss City’s next match, away to Bodø/Glimt.

89 min: From the resulting free kick, O’Reilly has a dig from the edge of the D. The ball’s deflected out for a corner, from which nothing occurs. But the clock ticks on.

88 min: Carreras is booked for hauling back Savinho, who was making off down the right. The referee strangely scattergun in his punishments.

87 min: Doku, who has been excellent tonight, is replaced by Ake, as City look to shore things up at the back.

86 min: Real have City pinned back. But Rodrygo needlessly shoves Matheus Nunes in the back, then is booked for dissent. Not the wisest couple of decisions.

85 min: Carreras smoothly advances down the left and crosses to Endrick at the near post. Endrick looks for the top-left corner with his header from six yards, but skims the top of the bar. Goal kick. Real so close to saving themselves … and perhaps their manager.

84 min: Savinho wriggles down the right touchline and has the opportunity to release Marmoush through the middle … but overhits the pass forward. A huge chance for City to wrap this up goes by.

82 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick.

81 min: Savinho chases after a long pass down the right. Rudiger clumsily clatters into him from behind, just before he enters the box. Not a penalty, but it’s surely a second yellow for Rudiger. The referee does Real Madrid a huge favour by not booking the Real defender … then adds insult to injury for City by booking Pep Guardiola, incandescent with rage at another weird non-decision.

80 min: Bellingham sends Valverde into space down the right. His low cross looks for Endrick. Gvardiol extends a leg to deflect behind. The corner comes in from the right, hit long. Vinícius Júnior tries an overhead kick at the far post, but shins over the bar. Big chance.

79 min: Endrick comes on for Raúl Asencio.

77 min: Arda Güler takes the free kick, just to the right of the City box. He whips a shot towards the near post. Gvardiol heads clear. Real come again through Rodrygo down the left. He sends a peach of a cross onto the head of Vinícius Júnior, eight yards out. Vinícius Júnior flashes a header wide right. He had to work Donnarumma at the very least. He probably should have scored.

76 min: Valverde gets in ahead of O’Reilly down the right. Just before he reaches the City box, O’Reilly shoves him in the back. A free kick and a yellow card.

75 min: Kylian Mbappé sits on the bench looking miserable. All wrapped up. It doesn’t look like he’ll be coming on.

74 min: Doku threatens to burst into space down the left only to be upended by Bellingham. But he’s not getting the free kick. This referee has made a few strange decisions this evening.

72 min: Real are seeing quite a bit of the ball right now. They’re doing absolutely nothing with it. More of the whistling.

70 min: City make a triple change. Marmoush, Savinho and Reijnders come on for Haaland and Cherki, who have been excellent, and Foden, who was below his usual top-drawer standard tonight.

68 min: Courtois hoicks the ball straight out of play, and the whistles start again. Ear-splitting. They’re not happy. The Spanish TV director cuts to Xabi Alonso. Join the dots.

67 min: Foden’s delivery of the free kick is dreadful. When the ball goes out for a throw, Brahim Díaz, a Manchester City lad in his youth, comes on for Ceballos.

66 min: Doku cuts in from the left and is nudged from behind by Bellingham. A free kick, but once again, the Real Madrid man escapes official censure. Doku is the boss of this left wing.

64 min: Doku spins Valverde down the left. Both players go down. The referee gives the Real captain an out by awarding him a generous free kick. Valverde is pushing his luck in this battle. Doku looks to have the beating of him.

62 min: City look like scoring every time they attack. Doku sashays in from the left and curls powerfully towards the bottom right. Courtois turns the ball around for a corner, cleverly so, given Haaland was lurking and would have prodded home had the ball been cushioned into his path. Nothing comes of the set piece.

61 min: Just before that Real break, Cherki danced in from the right and went over, claiming a penalty. He was clipped … but by his own man Silva. Oops.

59 min: Cherki, grooving his way down the inside-right channel, curls into the box for Haaland, who can’t telescope his leg far enough to poke past Courtois, who parries clear. Real counter, and Vinícius Júnior has the chance to release Rodrygo down the right … but telegraphs the pass, allowing O’Reilly to intercept. A blast of disapproving noise from the Real faithful, who are getting restless.

58 min: Real Madrid make the first change of the evening. Arda Güler comes on for the ineffective Gonzalo.

56 min: Well, play finally stops. But Valverde isn’t booked. That is utterly absurd. It was a comically mistimed tackle.

55 min: Valverde, chasing after Doku down the left touchline, scythes his man down with a late lunge. Doku gets up and tries to keep the move going. It breaks down. Valverde will surely be booked when play finally stops.

54 min: That was a hell of a reaction stop by Courtois, you know. He had hardly any time to react after the ball pinged off Asencio. Real’s keeper performing his usual heroics, with the admittedly large caveat of his unfortunate role in City’s equaliser.

52 min: City counter the counter, and Cherki jinks his way into the box from the right. He shoots. The ball bagatelles through a thicket of players and sails towards the bottom right. Courtois readjusts and smothers just in time. Then the counter-counter is countered (!!!) and Rodrygo aims a curler towards the top left. Wide and high. This isn’t going to end 1-2. It surely can’t.

50 min: Doku runs hard down the left. He crosses low for Silva, but Carreras intercepts just in time, skips past a couple of challenges, and sends Vinícius Júnior away down the left. The ball’s shuttled over to Bellingham, who cuts in from the right and tries to gently lob Donnarumma, but overcooks it, and the ball sails over the bar.

48 min: Haaland, in attempting to block a crisply hit Carreras pass, takes the ball full in the fruitbowl. He felt that alright, and blows his cheeks out hard. He gets up eventually, but oof, ooyah and ow. A tender moment.

47 min: Real start the second half on the front foot, without getting anywhere near the final third of the pitch.

Real Madrid, who were kept waiting by Manchester City, finally get the second half underway. No changes. Xabi Alonso, who was pictured in the tunnel having a discussion with the referee before wandering off with a wry smile on his face, takes his place in the dugout. His place in the dugout. For now.

Half-time ad break. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?

45 min +2: Just before that City counter, when Rodrygo swung that free kick in, Raúl Asencio went over in the vicinity of Gvardiol. Real are still complaining, arguing for a penalty, but if anything it was the Real man who sent the City defender over first. They’re not getting the decision, that’s for sure.

45 min +1: As good as Courtois’s save was, Haaland might have expected to slot that chance. He was unmarked, eight yards out. High standards and all that.

45 min: A free kick for Real Madrid out on the left touchline. Rodrygo curls it straight into the gloves of Donnarumma, who launches a counter attack. O’Reilly romps down the left and rolls infield for Haaland, who slams a shot towards the bottom right. Courtois parries. The rebound falls to Cherki, who has a shy at goal from a tighter angle on the right. Courtois parries again! What a stunning double save!

44 min: That’s curdled the mood in the Bernabéu, and ramped up the pressure on Xabi Alonso. Such a fine response by City to going behind.

41 min: This will be a little bit soft. But it may well be given. Rudiger gets caught the wrong side, and grabs Haaland around the waist. Haaland doesn’t need much encouragement to go down, but then Haaland shouldn’t offer him any. This is going to be given.

40 min: O’Reilly crosses from the left. Rudiger and Haaland tussle in the box. The striker goes down. He wants a penalty. VAR is going to take a look.

39 min: Real try to respond immediately, but Bellingham’s pass down the inside-left channel, intended for Vinícius Júnior, is too strong. Goal kick.

38 min: Real were claiming Dias had wrestled Rudiger to the ground just before Gvardiol won his header, but while there was some contact, it surely wasn’t enough for Rudiger to go down as dramatically as he did. Neither referee nor VAR were buying it, anyway.

36 min: … and so Thibaut Courtois still doesn’t have a clean sheet against Manchester City to his name.

34 min: City win a free kick out on the right. Cherki floats it in, hoping to find the head of Dias, but it’s an easy clearance for Rudiger. Courtois hasn’t had a save to make yet.

33 min: Vinícius Júnior enters the box down the left and elects to feed Bellingham on the overlap rather than cutting inside and shooting himself. Wrong option.

32 min: Rodrygo is thankfully OK to continue.

31 min: … but immediately after the restart, Rodrygo slips over, with nobody near him, and might have overstretched something as his studs slipped on the turf. That looked painful.

30 min: Doku and Asencio tangle on City’s left touchline. Asencio’s knee clips Doku, who springs up and makes his views known. For a second it threatens to spill over, but everyone calms down. Expect for Rüdiger, who, as is his wont, comes across to engage Nico González in philosophical chat. Never change, Antonio. But that calms down soon enough as well. We play on.

26 min: Matt Dony, of Pre-match Postbag fame, won’t appreciate this stat: according to TNT Sports, Thibaut Courtois is playing his 17th match against Manchester City tonight. He’s never kept a clean sheet. Also probably for the best if nobody tells Jurgen Klopp that, certainly for the sake of the former Liverpool manager’s blood pressure.

24 min: Rordygo one-twos at speed with Valverde down the right, and finds himself in a bit of space. But his cross, intended for Vinícius Júnior, is overhit.

22 min: Off the ball, Haaland presses his big paw into Asencio’s chest, and shoves him to the ground with a cartoon-style flip and flourish. Asencio descends in an arc and hits the turf with perfect comic timing. That needed swannee-whistle sound FX. The referee has a quick word, but both players seem friendly enough, regardless.

20 min: City have seen most of the ball. But it’s Real who have had all the chances.

18 min: In fact that cross pinged off Matheus Nunes’s elbow, but the point stands. Now Rodrygo is flipped into the air by Nico González down the left, and when the free kick’s sent in, Tchouaméni eyebrows wide right. That was close, though Donnarumma almost certainly had it covered.

16 min: Bellingham steals the ball 30 yards out, and feeds Vinícius Júnior down the left. Vinícius Júnior enters the box and reaches the byline, only for his cross to be bundled out for a corner by Matheus Nunes. Real want a penalty, but they’re not getting it, the ball having shaved the top of the City defender’s arm from extremely close distance. Nothing comes of the corner.

14 min: Doku skips in from the left and aims a curler towards the bottom right. Blocked. The dribble exquisite, the shot not so much.

13 min: City calm things down a bit by passing the ball this way and that along the halfway line. They’ve enjoyed 73 percent of possession so far.

11 min: Rodrygo jinks in from the right and is clipped from behind by Foden, who goes into the book. That’s a daft challenge, on the halfway line with Rodrygo going nowhere.

9 min: Cherki sends Rudiger off to the shops for a copy of Marca, a lovely drop of the shoulder down the right flank. Rudiger is fortunate the covering Bellingham is on hand to deal with Cherki, or the City man would have been away.

8 min: It could already be 2-1. Somewhere in the multiverse, it is. This surely won’t end goalless.

6 min: O’Reilly finds a bit of space down the left but can’t find Silva in the middle with his cross. Real counter. Rodrygo romps into acres down the right and crosses low for Vinícius Júnior, racing in from the left. Vinícius Júnior tries to dink over Donnarumma but sends the ball wide left. This is gloriously open.

5 min: The resulting corner is cleared by City, who attempt to launch a counter. Cherki is in space on the right, but the ball doesn’t get to him in time and Real regain their shape and their composure. What a start!

4 min: Rodrygo taps the free kick to the right for Valverde, who drives low and hard. The shot takes a huge deflection off a City shirt. Donnarumma is rooted to the spot, wrong-footed, but the ball flies inches wide of the right-hand post. Half of the stadium thought that was in.

3 min: … VAR gets involved and it turns out the contact was made just outside the box. City get away with a huge one. But it’s still going to be a free kick in a dangerous position just to the left of the D.

2 min: Vinicius Junior snaffles a loose ball and dribbles into the City box down the inside-left channel. He goes over Matheus Nunes’s leg. The ref points to the spot! Penalty! But …

1 min: A fierce old atmosphere in the Bernabéu. It’s Real Madrid in the Champions League after all. It’s Real Madrid versus a Pep team. And then …

Hats off to Erling Haaland, who goes out of his way to say hello to a couple of the tiny mascots and give them a high five. Once he goes off down the line, the little lads embrace each other with excitement, their day made. So sweet. Then City get the ball rolling.

The roof at the Bernabéu is shut … and the teams are out! Real Madrid wear their world-famous meringue-white shirts, while Manchester City sport those aforementioned green video-game tops. Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Ronarid, Jet Set Willy and all of the other sprites will start scrolling smoothly in a couple of minutes.

Pre-match postbag. Gotta say, it’s not exactly teeming over. But quality always trumps quantity.

“Pep usually seems to overthink Real even more than his other big adversaries. City, who should win comfortably, will, by a mixture of super messing around and comedy-gold defending, conspire to lose” – Tim Stappard

“If Thibaut Courtois doesn’t play an absolute blinder, then his form is officially an anti-Liverpool conspiracy” - Matt Dony

Pep Guardiola speaks to TNT Sports. “Last season for many reasons we were not able to compete against [Real Madrid] … hopefully this season we can do it well … we played good against Sunderland … some patterns I liked … Madrid play differently but I am looking forward to that … [Rayan Cherki] is so young … he has a huge personality … something unique in the final third … I have been here 23 times in this stadium … as a player and manager … 55, 56 times against Madrid in my career, my life … whatever happened, Madrid is one of the greatest teams ever.”

Back in the Real world, Xabi Alonso finds himself under an absurd amount of pressure, and here’s the latest reason why. Sid Lowe reports on a display of cinematic Celta supercool.

Manchester City will tonight sport their fourth-choice kit. It’s a green affair with jet-set geometric squiggles all over it, and a chip embedded within the City crest that, if you were to wave a newfangled “smart electric telecommunications device” over it, unlocks a slew of bonus features for Emlyn Hughes International Soccer on the C64 EA Sports FC 26. This is the sort of news that will either excite you or make you feel so very old and useless. Latest score: Excited 0-1 Old & Useless

The big news for Real Madrid: Kylian Mbappé, the four-goal hero of the 4-3 win at Olympiacos, is only on the bench. He’s got a broken finger as well as a leg problem.

Manchester City’s line-up is less seismic in terms of news: they name the same starting XI that swatted aside Sunderland 3-0 on Saturday.