Messi struck in the 56th minute at Children's Mercy Park, showing superb individual skill before rifling a low angled shot past Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp.

Real Madrid have lost just one of their six Champions League home games against City (W3 D2), going down 2-1 in the round of 16 in 2019-20.

His team trail after a late collapse saw Real beat them 3-2 at the Etihad in the first leg last week.

In Lisbon, Benfica drew 3-3 at home with Monaco to win their play-off tie 4-3 on aggregate and go through to play either Barcelona or Liverpool next.

European champions Madrid hold a 3-2 lead on City, who have struggled this season and are fourth in the Premier League, ahead of the play-off round second leg on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Jude Bellingham edged Real Madrid ahead in their Champions League play-off against Manchester City, but then his week swiftly took a turn for the worse.

Lewandowski scored his 20th goal of the season with a 28th-minute penalty that went in off the post.

After a gap of 502 days, Brazilian superstar Neymar finally found the back of the net when he converted from the spot for Santos in their 3-1 win over Agua Santa in the Sao Paulo State Championship today.

City were defeated 3-2 at home in the first leg of their play-off clash last week despite leading 2-1 with just four minutes left in the tie.

Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin.

Liverpool moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as Luis Diaz ended his goal drought to spark a tense 2-1 win against struggling Wolves on Sunday.

Barca have the opportunity to return to the top when they host sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano at the Olympic Stadium on Monday, after both their main rivals dropped points on Saturday.

The England international was dismissed after 39 minutes of Madrid's 1-1 draw at El Sadar when he exchanged words with referee Jose Munuera Montero, who then reached for his red card.

Calling the draw "lucky", Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said "we're satisfied with the result, let's say it like that."

Pep Guardiola admitted Friday his Manchester City team are not as comfortable in possession as they used to be and that they lack the physicality to compete with their Premier League rivals.

Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Jamal Musiala has signed a new contract with the Bundesliga giants until 2030, the club announced on Friday.

Arne Slot admitted "emotions got the better of me" after he was shown a red card following Liverpool's fiery 2-2 Premier League draw against neighbours Everton in midweek.

Given the scope of last year's achievements, where Alonso took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double in Germany, Carro's tongue-in-cheek quip is believable.

Despite the Brazil forward's current contract running to the end of the 2026-27 season, the Spanish champions contacted the player's agents last month to rework his deal and put an end to the Saudi interest that has rumbled on for over a year.

The Germany forward, 25, was injured during the club's warm-weather training camp in Dubai.