Kylian Mbappe sealed Real Madrid's 6-3 overall victory over Manchester City with a hat-trick at the Bernabeu. The French striker's hat-trick in the return match helped Los Blancos secure a place in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Real Madrid on their journey to find their 16th Champions League title, entered the second leg of the play-off round with a 3-2 advantage over the reigning Premier League champions. With home advantage, coach Carlo Ancelotti's team easily defeated The Citizens.
For Man City, their miserable season continues. They currently only have the FA Cup as a real chance to win the title. In the Premier League, Pep Guardiola's side are 17 points behind Liverpool.
Mbappe has played a number of big matches for Real Madrid. There are 2 El Clasicos and 2 Madrid derbies, in addition to the confrontations with Dortmund, AC Milan and Liverpool. And against Man City, Mbappe performed convincingly. This is the reason why the French striker joined the Bernabeu.
Having experienced the atmosphere at the Bernabeu, Mbappe helped Paris St Germain take the lead in March 2022 before Karim Benzema's hat-trick in the second half took Real Madrid to the next round. Now, the 26-year-old player has experienced the feeling of victory in the royal shirt.
Mbappe's performance in the first half against Man City was extremely effective. He only needed 14 touches to make 5 shots. 2 of those were goals, with an xG (expected goal) of 0.73.
In the second half, a worthy hat-trick was completed by Mbappe. At the beginning of the season, doubts about Mbappe's ability to adapt seemed to have completely disappeared.
Mbappe's scoring record in the knockout matches in the Champions League is extremely impressive. That is 24 goals since 2017, including a hat-trick against Man City. No player has achieved more impressive numbers than Mbappe. That is why the "White Vultures" have made so many efforts to bring Mbappe to the Bernabeu. And there will be many big nights coming.
Notably, the French striker has become the youngest player to participate in 500 goals (26 years and 61 days). Up to now, Mbappe has scored 359 goals and had 142 assists.
" Mbappe has enough quality and enthusiasm to reach that level but he has to work hard, because Ronaldo has done a lot of great things throughout his career. That's not easy.
In this match, Mbappe did a very good job, his skillful ball handling skills helped him easily defeat Man City's defense" - Ancelotti commented on Mbappe after the win over Man City.
