MADRID, Spain — Kylian Mbappé sealed Real Madrid’s 6-3 aggregate victory over Manchester City with a hat trick at the Santiago Bernabéu as the reigning European champions booked their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Real, seeking their sixteenth Champions League title, went into the second leg of the playoff with a 3-2 lead over the Premier League champions after last week’s win at the Etihad. And with City forward Erling Haaland fit enough for only a place on the substitutes’ bench, Carlo Ancelotti’s team made easy work of the 2023 Champions League winners.
For City, their miserable season continues, and the club now have only the FA Cup as a realistic chance of silverware as they go into Sunday’s clash with Premier League leaders Liverpool seventeen points behind Arne Slot’s side.
Mbappé emphatically delivered, this is why he joined Madrid. Having previously experienced what can happen on a European night at this stadium, Mbappé put Paris Saint-Germain ahead here in March 2022 before a second-half Karim Benzema hat trick sent Madrid through, he’s now on the other, happier side of the equation.
Mbappé’s first-half performance against City was ruthlessly efficient. He needed just 14 touches to take five shots. Two of them were goals, with an xG (expected goals) of 0.73. And what goals they were. The first was lofted, unerringly, and first-time, over Ederson after Raúl Asencio’s long ball.
The second came after a flowing move involving Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, before some nimble Mbappé footwork. In the second half, a deserved hat trick was completed, stepping inside to stroke a shot, left-footed, into the bottom corner. Those early-season doubts about Mbappé’s adaptation feel an awfully long time ago.
His goal scoring record in Champions League knockout games is staggering: 24 goals since 2017, including tonight’s hat trick. No player has scored more. That’s why Madrid worked so hard to bring Mbappé here. And there’ll be plenty more big nights to come. — Alex Kirkland
The signs have been there for a while, especially during the worst season of Pep Guardiola’s nine-year reign as Manchester City manager, but this dismantling at the hands of Real Madrid offered indisputable evidence that time has caught up with this City side.
City offered no resistance as Real cruised to victory, and Guardiola’s side were as passive as perhaps ever before. But take a look at the squad on duty, and it is easy to see why this group of players a group that has won so much — has come to the end of the line.
Kevin De Bruyne, City’s talisman for so many years, is now 33, and injuries have taken their toll on the Belgium midfielder to the extent that he didn’t even start this must-win game.
John Stones, 30, has spent 10 weeks on the sidelines due to various injuries this season and the England defender is now facing another spell out of the team after lasting just eight minutes in the Bernabéu before limping off with another injury.
And in midfield, the 34-year-old Ilkay Gündogan must have wished he never returned to City on a free transfer from Barcelona last summer after being left chasing shadows by his Real opponents.
Bernardo Silva, another 30-year-old, was also anonymous on a night when Real looked hungry, energetic and full of belief — none of which applied to City.
The Champions League is always the true test of a top team, and City have been found wanting this season. They only just sneaked into the playoff round after finishing 22nd in the initial stage of the competition, and Real have now given them a brutal reality check.
