Heading into the Play-offs, the most awaited tie was Real Madrid against Manchester City. Both teams clashed for the fourth year in a row, but this time in an extremely unexpected early round. Real Madrid came in as the favourites as they had just about narrowly missed out on the top 8. On the other hand, Manchester City had struggled to even make the Play-offs and are experiencing their worst form in the past years. They’re currently sitting in 4th place in the Premier League, and it looks like they won’t be defending the title, missing out on the opportunity to set a nearly unbreakable record by winning the competition five times in a row.
The first leg
At the Etihad Stadium, Man City started off strong by controlling possession and the tempo of the game, yet early on they showed signs of weakness in their backline, which became even more obvious, as they faced three of the best and fastest attackers in the world. Eventually, City’s build-up play paid off in the 19th minute, as Grealish chipped the ball over Raúl Asencio, which was chested down by Gvardiol and landed perfectly for Haaland to score his first ever goal against Real Madrid. The Spaniards quickly reacted well and a few minutes later, Vini Jr. came close to equalising but was denied by the bar. Man City then regained control of the game, hitting the bar twice before the end of the half. In the second half, Real Madrid came out with a higher intensity and, after a few attempts, Mbappé finally managed to score the equaliser with a fair bit of luck. City again had the longer possession of the ball in the second half, but Real Madrid’s counterattacks were proving to be a problem for City. During an attempt to break down the defence, Foden won a penalty in a moment of brilliance, as he was fouled by Ceballos while dribbling past him. Haaland confidently slotted in the penalty and put City up 2-1 in the 80th minute. All looked in favour of Man City, as they only needed to hang onto the lead for 10 minutes. Former City player Brahim Díaz was subbed on in the 84th minute and two minutes later he levelled the game. Real Madrid gained momentum, making one last push to win the game and, in typical “Real Madrid fashion”, Bellingham netted the winner on the last kick of the game. Man City players looked absolutely defeated. They had played a superb match for their standards this season, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the reigning champions.
The second leg
City showed up with a completely different line-up for the second leg, because most of their important players were out due to injury. Real Madrid took advantage of this and completed one of their most dominant performances in the Champions League in the past years. Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick, delivering his best performance as a Real Madrid player to that date. Even though Mbappé struggled at the start of the season, it looks like he is finally back to his best, having scored in each of his last four matches. City didn’t have a single shot on target in the whole first half but managed to score a consolation goal in the 92nd minute.
This marks the end of an era for Man City, as they’re looking to rebuild their team. On the other hand, the defending champions are the favourites to win the competition, and they will face their city rivals Atlético de Madrid in the round of sixteen.
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