Real Madrid beat Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages for the third time in the last four seasons, with Kylian Mbappé scoring a brilliant hat-trick to seal a 3-1 win on the night and a 6-3 aggregate victory, sending Los Blancos into the last 16.
The Bernabéu crowd, wisely not getting too carried away, found confidence in the fact that Real Madrid had advanced in 37 of the 39 previous UCL ties where they had won the first leg away. It only took four minutes for the advantage to grow, as Raúl Asencio’s long ball was misjudged by Rúben Dias, allowing Mbappé to control it and calmly chip over the keeper, Ederson.
That third goal in the first 12 minutes gave Real Madrid a strong cushion, but they didn’t let up. Their dominance led to several corners, including one where Jude Bellingham narrowly missed with a header. On 33 minutes, Vinícius Júnior passed to Rodrygo, who flicked it to Mbappé. Mbappé then easily beat Joško Gvardiol and finished past Ederson at the near post.
Manchester City, missing Erling Haaland, struggled in the first half, and things didn’t improve much after the break. Real Madrid remained in control, and Mbappé completed his hat-trick with a stylish left-foot finish from the edge of the box after cutting inside of Phil Foden. City showed some improvement but still couldn’t threaten Real Madrid, and Vinícius had a shot saved by Ederson.
With four goals down on aggregate, City were deflated, though they did get a late consolation when Nico González tapped in a rebound after Omar Marmoush’s free-kick hit the bar.
It was a surprise to see the last two winners of the competition face each other at this stage, but Real Madrid came out on top again. They went on to win the trophy last time, but the road to repeating that success won’t be easy, with either Atlético Madrid or Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen waiting in the next round.
