Once again, the mighty Real Madrid humiliated the English Champions Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League and eliminated the Guardiola boys from this competition. Since the first leg ended in a 4-3 win for Real Madrid, Manchester City had no alternatives today to beat Real Madrid with a higher margin. But Real Madrid dominated Man City at Santiago Bernabeu and smashed them with a 3-1 margin, where Kylian Mbappe alone destroyed the Guardiola boys with a stunning hat-trick.
In the 2021-2022 season, the Los Blancos eliminated Man City from the semifinal. Manchester City were also eliminated from the Champions League quarterfinal by Real Madrid last season. Finally, they also failed to defeat Real Madrid this season and marked the end of the play-off round.
Additionally, it is the first time in Guardiola’s entire managerial career that his team failed to qualify for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League.
“I had the feeling in the previous three [years] we were better than them, this time they have been better. They can run, can make long possessions, high pressing, dynamic movement, defend well. They deserve it. We need to learn from it. We need to accept it and move forward,“ Pep Guardiola shared his thoughts after the defeat.
However, Man City had to bench Erling Haaland as he picked up a knee injury during the weekend, and Pep Guardiola kept his trust in Marmous, the new signing who scored a hattrick in the English Premier League.
But Kylian Mbappe stole the show as he broke the deadlock at the very beginning of the match. He scored a fantastic goal in just four minutes of the match, defeating Ruben Diaz and John Stones to find the back of the net.
Despite their best efforts, City couldn’t break Real Madrid’s defense. Instead, they conceded another goal before halftime. Kylian Mbappe scored a mindblowing goal in the 33rd minute, shooting past three defenders.
City fans already knew that they could not overturn, yet some had high hopes to make a comeback. But Kylian Mbappe killed the game after the break when he completed his first UCL hat-trick for Real Madrid in the 61st minute with the help of Federico Valverde.
However, City’s new player Nico González returned a goal in injury time, but it helped nothing for Man City to avoid the defeat. As a result, Real Madrid secured their place in the Round of 16, while Manchester City ended their mission with a humiliating defeat at Santiago Bernabeu.
Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, is very pleased to reach the last 16 again. “Without Haaland, Manchester City lose attacking power up front. We scored very early on after a long pass forward, and then we controlled it well. We’re in the fight, in the last 16. We’ve struggled to get here, and now we have to respect Atlético and Leverkusen very much,” Ancelotti shared his thoughts after the match.
