Real Madrid booked their place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League with a 3-0 victory over Braga.
With Napoli dropping points at home, the door was ajar for Real Madrid to open up daylight at the top of Group C.
The match did not play out without alarm for Real, as Andriy Lunin saved a penalty from Alvaro Djalo after Cristian Borja had been hauled down in the box by Lucas Vazquez.
Brahim Diaz eased Real nerves when tucking home following an excellent run and cross from Rodrygo.
Real doubled their lead on 58 minutes when Vinicius tucked home a low shot from eight yards.
Rodrygo went from provider to scorer just past the hour, as Real broke forward at pace – Rodrygo exchanged passes with Vinicius before dinking a cute finish over Matheus Magalhaes.
The win moved Real to 12 points from four games, with the aim now to secure top spot in their final two matches.
NAPOLI HELD BY AT HOME BY BERLIN
Union Berlin snapped a 12-game losing streak when coming from behind to claim a point at Napoli in the UEFA Champions League.
The German club have had a torrid time so far in the 2023/24 season, going on a long losing run after opening their Bundesliga campaign with a pair of 4-1 victories.
Things looked grim when they trailed a dominant Napoli side, but they produced a second-half rally to secure a 1-1 draw.
Napoli dominated the ball and chances in the early exchanges, and saw a goal from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa ruled out by VAR.
Anguissa stopped low to nod home Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s downward header on the half-hour mark, but the latter was deemed to have committed a foul.
The Napoli pressure brought a goal on 39 minutes, with Matteo Politano showing superb reactions to turn home Mario Rui’s deflected cross.
Union arrived in Italy on a run of 12 defeats in a row, but came close to an equaliser on the stroke of half-time – only for Josip Juranovic’s free-kick to thud against the post.
Napoli continued to dictate the play in the second half, but were undone by a rapid Union counter. A hopeful long ball found David Fofana who drew in defenders before feeding the ball to Sheraldo Becker.
Becker’s shot was well saved by Alex Meret, but Fofana was on hand to crash the rebound home.
Napoli went in search of a winner but dogged Union defending secured a point.
The draw leaves Napoli on seven points from four games, while Union are off the mark in European competition.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/11/08/3822068-77674288-2560-1440.jpg)
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/11/08/3822068-77674288-2560-1440.jpg)
