City exit Champions League after defeat in Madrid

Pep Guardiola’s side were beaten 3-1 in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for the current European champions.

After a 3-2 defeat in the first leg at the Etihad, City fell further behind in the tie when the Frenchman scored the opener after just four minutes.

And we suffered a further early early setback with John Stones going off injured after just eight minutes while Erling Haaland was unable to feature in the fixture.

Mbappe scored two more either side of half-time before Nico scored his first goal for City in the dying minutes. 

WHAT HAPPENED

Clashes between Real and City have been dubbed the ‘new Classico’ as we headed into our eighth match in four years with so many of the games that preceded it such memorable occasions.

Roof closed and a raucous atmosphere, City walked into a cauldron knowing we needed something extraordinary to stay in Europe following our 3-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium eight days earlier.

But we were dealt a significant early blow when Mbappe doubled Real’s advantage inside four minutes, with the striker latching on to Raul Asencio’s long pass and looping the ball over Ederson.

It got worse moments later when Stones was forced off after seemingly picking up an injury making a short pass and was replaced by Nathan Ake.

City were already without our top scorer Erling Haaland who was unavailable to start at the Santiago Bernabeu after suffering a late setback in the 4-0 win over Newcastle at the weekend.

In a season where injuries have caused so many problems, it was two more painful twists to our plans.   

A tough challenge got harder with the early goal settling down the home side and they won a series of corners with Jude Bellingham off-target with a flicked header.

The midfielder has been in the headlines for his red card at the weekend and he was the first to go in the book when he caught England team-mate Phil Foden with a late challenge.

But it was Mbappe who was proving the danger man, making another threatening run behind the City defence and hitting a stinging shot at Ederson before he got a second just after the half hour when he slotted home cleverly after Vinicius Junior’s pass.

City tried to force our way back into the tie but free-kicks in promising positions couldn’t lead to testing Real keeper Thibaut Courtois.

Mbappe, was chasing a hat-trick and was denied by a brilliant save from Ederson after the break, although he appeared to be offside.

But he got his third when he found space on the edge of the box and fired a low shot into the corner beyond the Brazilian keeper.

City kept pushing with Foden’s shot forcing a save from Courtois before teeing up Savinho whose shot was blocked.

Bernardo fired an effort inches over the bar and Khusanov was denied by Real’s keeper while a challenge on James McAtee was adjudged to be outside the box.

In injury time, Omar Marmoush smashed a fierce free-kick against the underside of the crossbar and Nico tapped in the rebound, with the goal given after a lenghty VAR check.

TEAMS

Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde (Alaba 90), Rudiger, Asencio, Mendy, Tchouameni (Modric 83), Ceballos (Camavinga 78), Bellingham, Rodrygo, Mbappe (Brahim 78), Vinicius Junior (Endrick 90).

Subs not used: Lunin, Sergio Mestre, Arda Guler, Vasquez, Vallejo, Fran Garcia

City: Ederson, Khusanov, Stones (Ake 8), Dias, Gvardiol, Nico, Gundogan (Kovacic 77), Bernardo, Foden (McAtee 77), Savinho, Marmoush

Subs not used: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Haaland, Grealish, Doku, De Bruyne, Nunes, Lewis

EURO FIGHTERS

City had not lost a game over 90 minutes in Europe in our previous two seasons but the 2024/25 campaign has not gone to plan.

It’s tough to go out at this stage of the competition but landing Madrid in the draw meant that one of the two most recent winners of the Champions League winners were going to exit the tournament.

The new league format that preceded the tie was a learning curve for all clubs, including Real and City who missed out on the top-eight positions.

But after qualifying, Guardiola pointed to games against Feyenoord and Sporting CP for contributing to a 22nd-placed finish and the resulting opponents.

PEP GUARDIOLA REACTION

“We accept it. The best team won. I congratulate Real Madrid and now we focus on the Premier League.

“In 180 minutes, we had a good 30 or 35 minutes, the rest we struggled. We came here one goal down and started with an injury to John and then it is more difficult with the quality they have. 

“Not just Mbappe, they have a lot of players. They have a fantastic team. We didn’t deserve to go through. It’s the first time we didn’t have a fantastic Champions League season. 

“We are so lucky to be here for so many years and to win it once. We have to accept that this season we were not close enough.”

RUBEN DIAS REACTION

“We were not good enough. Shake hands and we look forward. We have a lot to improve, we have to be better. Football is like this.

“It’s the moment and you have to be good enough in the moment and if you’re not good enough in the moment then football takes over. It is what it is.

“Obviously, in our minds the disappointment is maybe heavier than usual because we don’t like to lose.

“We don’t like to be in this position. It’s not just that we’ve got used to winning every year, it’s just out mentality, it’s our way of being, it’s our air that we breathe.”

WHAT’S NEXT

City are back in Premier League action on Sunday, 23 February.

League leaders Liverpool are the visitors to the Etihad Stadium with the kick-off at 16:30 (UK).

 

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