Real Madrid began their Champions League title defence with a hard-fought 3-1 home win over Stuttgart on Tuesday, thanks to late goals from Antonio Rueiger and Endrick, who cancelled out Deniz Undav’s equaliser.

Stuttgart were arguably the better team at a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu stadium, with Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois making a number of crucial saves from the German side’s attempts.

However, Madrid took the lead in the first minute of the second half through a quick counter-attack when Rodrygo crossed to Kylian Mbappé, who fired home from close range.

Stuttgart equalized in the 68th minute with a header from Undav, but Real substitute Luka Modric took a corner and fired it past the keeper in the penalty area, before heading the ball into the goal in the 83rd minute.

Eighteen-year-old Endrick fired in a powerful shot from long range in injury time to give the local team a thrilling victory.

“Those who follow Stuttgart closely know that they are an attacking team that scores a lot of goals but can also surprise; I am happy that we came out of the game with a win,” player of the match Courtois told Movistar Plus. “They put us under a lot of pressure at the beginning and we suffered, sometimes through our own mistakes, but we got better and should have scored more often.

“I am happy with the way we responded after the equaliser because winning is very important in this new format of the Champions League.”

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Manager Carlo Ancelotti, faced with a tough defensive selection with David Alaba still recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered last season and Éder Militão struggling with a persistent muscle injury in his leg, deployed defender Dani Carvajal at centre-back. Stuttgart aggressively chased down the right side of Madrid’s defence and nearly scored a couple of times.

Carvajal and reserve defender Lucas Vázquez, both 1.73 metres tall, were easy targets for Stuttgart and were often wrong-footed, creating chances for the Germans throughout the first half.

An inspired Courtois made impressive saves in the opening 20 minutes to deny goals from Jamie Leweling, Enzo Millot and Angelo Stiller.

Real tried to hit back, with Mbappe, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo all wasting good chances, but it was Stuttgart who came close to scoring in the 29th minute through an Undav counter-attack, when his shot was deflected onto the crossbar by Carvajal.

Ancelotti brought Militao off the bench at half-time and put Carvajal in his original position as defender, hoping to solve his team’s problems. A defensive error by Stuttgart’s Maximilian Mittelstädt allowed Real to score the opening goal in the first minute of the second half.

Aurélien Tchouaméni played a long ball to Rodrygo on the right, but Mittelstadt could not clear the ball. The Brazilian forward was free and was able to control the ball at his pace before passing it to Mbappe, who tapped the ball into the empty net from the far post.

Real Madrid continued to press, with Rodrygo missing a couple of chances and Vinicius Jr hitting the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area in the 59th minute.

Stuttgart were still dangerous on the counter-attack and Courtois had to make a couple of saves from Leweling attempts, before Undav levelled the score with a header from a corner.

Stuttgart continued to threaten Madrid’s chaotic defence, but the Spaniards regained the lead through Rüdiger.

Vinicius Jr. missed a one-on-one situation against Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel in the 93rd minute, two minutes before Endrick fired a shot from far outside the penalty area.