In the early morning of February 20 (Vietnam time), Real Madrid welcomed Man City to the Bernabeu in the second leg of the Champions League play-off. In the first leg, Los Blancos won a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Coach Pep Guardiola will not have Erling Haaland in this difficult match due to injury. Just 4 minutes after the opening whistle, Kylian Mbappe opened the score for the home team after a beautiful chip.
With a total score of 4-2, that gap gives Madrid great confidence. A series of their corners continued to create a threat, Man City almost getting caught up in the opponent's playing style.
In the 8th minute, John Stones was injured and could not continue playing. Since then, The Citizens have struggled. In the 33rd minute, Mbappe skillfully kicked Ederson down after a pass from Vinicius Junior.
At the beginning of the second half, the French star completed his hat-trick when he found an empty space at the edge of the penalty area. The gap increased to 4 goals after 2 matches and extinguished all hopes of the English representative.
However, City are still trying to find an opportunity to reduce the score. In the extra time, Omar Marmoush took a direct free kick, hitting the crossbar and Nico Gonzalez rushed in to cushion the ball, scoring an honorary goal for the visitors.
In the end, Real Madrid won 3-1, winning a ticket to the round of 16 of the Champions League (final 6-3). As for Man City, they were eliminated from the top European league before the round of 16 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
Pep Guardiola's team will return to prepare for the Premier League's top team Liverpool's reception on Sunday, February 23.
