The reigning Champions League champions, Real Madrid, began their title defense journey in a rather difficult way against Stuttgart in the early morning of September 18 (Vietnam time).
Not highly rated when visiting Bernabeu, the German representative surprised Real Madrid somewhat with their confident playing style, both applying strong pressure and coordinating smoothly.
They performed well enough to give Madridistas a scare with a series of threatening shots on Thibaut Courtois.
Real Madrid have a habit of starting slowly, but their inferiority was partly due to coach Carlo Ancelotti unexpectedly placing Dani Carvajal at centre-back, leaving Lucas Vazquez at right-back.
The right wing was constantly under attack, and Carvajal struggled to compete with his physically stronger opponent. Luckily for Los Blancos, the Belgian goalkeeper played well enough to save the goal, with a bit of luck from the crossbar.
At the other end of the field, the strikers were ineffective in finishing even though Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo Goes had their chances.
The first half was fast-paced and exciting but goalless. Ancelotti made a change right after the break - bringing on centre-back Eder Militao to replace Vazquez, and the turning point came in the 23rd second.
The Stuttgart defender missed Aurelien Tchouameni's long pass, allowing Rodrygo to run down and create a favorable pass for Mbappe. The French striker scored his first Champions League goal for Real Madrid, also in his third consecutive match.
Leading but with a bit of laxity to miss opportunities to increase the gap, Real Madrid were equalized in the 68th minute.
Immediately, Ancelotti made another adjustment, with Luka Modric coming on to replace Tchouameni, who was showing signs of complacency. And it was the Croatian veteran who took a corner kick for Antonio Rudiger to head home to make it 2-1 in the 83rd minute.
In the final minutes, Stuttgart's formation pushed up and had to pay the price in the 90+5 minute. Endrick led the ball from home and finished decisively, making the score 3-1.
Like Mbappe, this was Endrick's first Champions League goal, a player who decided to get married at the age of 18.
