Just when the footballing Gods seemed to have struck a cruel blow to Real Madrid's chances of picking up anything against Manchester City after absolutely dominating the away side for the majority of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo popped up, as he always does, to give the Spanish champions an absolutely thrilling 3-2 victory in a Group D match of the UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal withstood a second-half barrage from French champions Montpellier to score a come-from-behind 2-1 win, while Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto and Malaga picked up impressive results.
But opening day of the Champions League was all about the game at the Bernabeu, with Real totally controlling the game from start to finish, and taking things to the final moments, before clawing out a vital win.
If anyone thought soccer was a game that rewarded the better side, it was nowhere evident when City took the lead against the run of play in the second half, through substitute Edin Dzeko, with the striker calmly slotting the ball past Iker Casillas after taking a pass from the excellent Yaya Toure. The creator then should have really doubled the lead, but failed to connect cleanly after finding space inside the box.
Real got a deserved equalizer - deserved would actually be an understatement after the dominating performance of the Spaniards in the first half - with left-back Marcelo finding a way past Joe Hart via a deflection.
However, just when it looked like Real would kick on and go for the winner, City struck yet again. A nicely curved free kick from Alexander Kolarov, evaded every single player inside the box, with Casillas reacting too late to prevent the ball nestling into the bottom corner in the 85th minute.
Real, though, refused to let their heads down, hitting back after just two minutes. Angel Di Maria weaved his way towards the opposition penalty area, before neatly laying on a pass to Karim Benzema, who controlled and turned in one swift motion, before firing into the bottom corner.
If everyone thought the drama was over, they were in for a surprise in the 90th minute, when Manchester City went from away winners at the Bernabeu, to leaving empty-handed. Cristiano Ronaldo, the man for the big occasion, cut from the left onto his right foot, and took a quick snap shot, which dipped and confused goalkeeper Hart, finding its way into the back of the net, to the absolute delight of Jose Mourinho, who went into a knee-slide celebration.
Real should have really put the game out of sight in the first half, but will be happy and relieved to have come out of the game with all three points. Heartbreak for City, however, and Roberto Mancini's men will have to pick themselves up, as they will have no easy games in the Group of Death, with games against Dortmund and Ajax to follow.
In Montpellier, Lukas Podolski and Gervinho scored for the Gunners in the space of two minutes, after Younes Belhanda had given the home side the lead from the penalty spot.
The French champions put in a great performance in the second half, but the Arsenal rearguard, which has done really well this season, held firm to give the North London side all three points.
Results: Group A: Paris St Germain 4-0 Dynamo Kyiv; Dinamo Zagreb 0-2 Porto. Group B: Olympiakos 1-2 Schalke; Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal. Group C: Milan 0-0 Anderlecht; Malaga 3-0 Zenit St Petersburg. Group D: Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester City; Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Ajax.
