Real Madrid continues to affirm their position in the Champions League when eliminating Manchester City with a total score of 5-1 after two legs, thereby convincingly winning a ticket to the quarter-finals. This is also the third consecutive season that a representative of England has fallen to Los Blancos in the most prestigious European arena.
The second leg took place at a high pace right from the first minutes, when the two teams continuously created dangerous opportunities. Federico Valverde almost opened the score with a bold lob but could not beat Gianluigi Donnarumma's vigilance.
In the opposite direction, Thibaut Courtois also continuously saved shots from Rayan Cherki and Rodri, helping the away team maintain the advantage.
The turning point came in the middle of the first half when Bernardo Silva handled the ball in the penalty area. After consulting VAR, the referee issued a red card to the Portuguese midfielder and awarded Real Madrid a penalty. From the 11m spot, Vinicius Junior made no mistake, increasing the total score to 4-0 and almost extinguishing Man City's hopes.
Despite playing with one less player, Pep Guardiola's team still fought with great effort. Erling Haaland rekindled hope with a goal to narrow the score before halftime, but that was all they could do.
Stepping into the second half, The Citizens continued to increase the pressure, but their efforts were rejected by the certainty of goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
As the match drifted to the end, Vinicius once again spoke up with a goal to seal the score 2-1. This victory helped Real Madrid get closer to the great battle with Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, in the context that the Bundesliga representative had won against Atalanta 6-1 in the first leg.
Results of some other notable matches:
Sporting 5-0 Bodo/Glimt (5-3)
Chelsea 0-3 PSG (2-8)
Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (3-1)
