Chelsea came from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 and top their Women's Champions League group with a 100 percent record.
Two second-half penalties from Catarina Macario were enough to give the WSL leaders victory in the Spanish capital.
As in their draw against Leicester in the WSL on Saturday, the Blues had to come from behind to secure their place as Group B winners. Real Madrid knew everything, but a win would put them in second place.
The home side also made a perfect start when Hannah Hampton, making her first Champions League appearance of the season, failed to convert Caroline Weir's shot (8). The ball bounced behind her and over the line after a weak clearing attempt.
Both teams could have scored the following goal in the first half: Guro Reiten forced a nice stop from Misa Rodriguez, while Olga Carmona dragged a shot just wide.
The Real Madrid captain had a nightmarish start to the second period, giving away two penalties within the first ten minutes that ultimately decided the match.
The first saw Carmona trip substitute Macario during half-time, who took the penalty. She sent the ball high into the net (51), sending Rodriguez the wrong way.
Minutes later, Carmona was penalized for a hard handball, and because there was no VAR in women's club football, the decision could not be reviewed. Macario scored in almost identical fashion to see Chelsea take the lead (56).
Despite Real Madrid's abundance of chances – the best coming from Naomie Feller when she flashed an effort past the far post – they were unable to find the goals needed to leapfrog the Blues.
They finish second in group B with 12 points. Chelsea, meanwhile, collects the full 18 points from their group campaign and ends 2024 with victory.
Bomb Pastor: Macario, a world-class player
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor to UEFA.com:
“We weren't very happy with our performance in the first half. We all sat down together at half time and told ourselves we had nothing to lose. We have a strong mentality and that is important to win games.”
“Macario is a world-class player, she changed the game. She showed a lot of confidence by scoring those two penalties.”
Weir: We didn't take our chances
Real Madrid midfielder Caroline Weir against UEFA.com:
“We lost the game in the second half. I think we were very good, but Chelsea are a great team. It was a very intense game and I think overall we played well.
“It was very difficult to maintain the level of the first half for ninety minutes, but in the end we created quite a few chances and we did not take them. I thought it was a very entertaining match to watch.”
Celtic finish bottom of Group B after defeating Twente
Celtic's debut campaign in the Women's Champions League group stages ended with another defeat as they were beaten 3-0 in Twente.
A match that both sides went into with the hope of reaching the quarter-finals was already over, with the hosts taking the lead through Kayleigh van Dooren's finish in the 20th minute.
Celtic then scored two own goals before half-time, through 18-year-old goalkeeper Lisa Rodgers and Natalie Ross, to slump to a sixth defeat from as many games in Group B.
While Elena Sadiku's Ghirls finished bottom of the group, Twente finished in third place with six points, having also beaten Celtic 2-0 in their opener.
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