UCL: Mbappe gets brace in Madrid's win as Arsenal defeat Bilbao in Spain

Kylian Mbappe scored two penalties — one in each half — to help Real Madrid to 2-1 win over Olympic Marseille in their opening UEFA Champions League stage match on Tuesday.

The French striker was the saving grace for Los Blancos in Xabi Alonso’s first UCL match as the club’s manager, scoring a brace, with the second a milestone goal.

Real Madrid started Vinicius Jr. on the bench but were the better side in the early exchanges and should have taken the lead but were denied by goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and the woodwork.

It was Marseille who took the lead, however, profiting from their host’s mistake, with Timothy Weah finishing off Mason Greenwood’s pass for 1-0 on 22 minutes.

The 15-time UCL champions however leveled six minutes later when Rodrygo was brought down in the box, allowing Mbappe to slam home his spot kick.

The visitors had the better chances afterwards but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could not finish off a brilliant chance, and Real Madrid’s job became harder when Carvajal was shown a straight red card for headbutting the goalkeeper.

Real would score the winner against all odds when a fortuitous call for handball was given, and Mbappe squeezed in his second penalty for his 50th goal since joining the club last season.

He reached the milestone from 64 matches, and is the fastest player to reach the feat since Cristiano Ronaldo.

In other matches, Arsenal scored two late goals through substitutes Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard to defeat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at the San Mames Stadium in Spain, while Juventus and Borussia Dortmund served an eight-goal 4-4 thriller in Italy.

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