Kylian Mbappe was the star for Real Madrid as his superb hat-trick inspired a 3-1 victory over Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League knockout play-off, sealing a 6-3 win on aggregate.
Pep Guardiola’s side had been leading the tie heading into the 86th minute of the first leg before conceding two late goals. But there was no such competitiveness at the Bernabeu as Real Madrid showed their superior pedigree.
After the game, Guardiola was in a conciliatory mood, telling TNT Sports: “We accept it. The best team won, so congratulations Real Madrid and now we focus on the Premier League.
“It’s the first year we didn’t make a good Champions League season, and we accept it and fight for next season to be here again.
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Sky Sports News’ Ben Ransom reflects on Manchester City’s subpar performance against Real Madrid as Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick helped Los Blancos dump Pep Guardiola’s men out of the Champions League.
“We were so lucky to be for many years in this competition, we were so satisfied to win it once, arrive at the final in another one. We have to accept that right now, this season, we are not close enough to be there, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Mbappe wasted no time in putting the hosts ahead. It was a simple ball over the top that caught Man City out and, after a slip from Ruben Dias, the striker kept his composure to lob the goalkeeper inside four minutes.
Things went from bad to worse for City in the aftermath too as John Stones – after a seemingly innocuous challenge – was taken off injured.
Real Madrid continued to rack up the chances – Mbappe beating Dias again for pace with Ederson needing to make the save in the highlight of the shots – but the France international made no mistake in doubling the lead in the 34th minute.
The Real front line overloaded a bamboozled Man City defence, with a neat short pass from Rodrygo finding Mbappe. He then dummied past Josko Gvardiol – leaving him on the floor – before slamming home.
And, on the hour, Mbappe completed his fine hat-trick to round off Real Madrid’s rout. He was picked out over on the right of the area with zero pressure, skipping past Phil Foden before an arrowed, low finish into the far corner.
There were a few signs of life from the visitors in the final 15 minutes – having failed to have a shot on target in the opening hour – and they managed to net a consolation in added time. Omar Marmoush’s free-kick cannoned off the crossbar and Nico Gonzalez was there to turn home, with a VAR check confirming the goal stood.
Mbappe nets his second goal against Man City
It is another bruising moment in Man City’s season and less than ideal preparation for their showdown with Liverpool in their next Premier League game on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports this weekend.
Bellingham: Mbappe had a slow start but he’s flying
Jude Bellingham speaking to TNT Sports about Kylian Mbappe:
“We go into games knowing he’ll affect them – our job in behind him is to get into the best positions possible and when he gets the ball in those areas he’ll be dangerous. You saw that with his different type of goals – it’s incredible what he’s done in his career. I know he had a slow start but he’s now flying. It’s a pleasure to watch.”
On inconsistent Real Madrid form: “Results can be humbling. You need a reminder that talent won’t be enough when we go away to teams. It’s not enough just showing up and taking the points. You need organisation and commitment to the cause – and we showed that in these two games.”
Guardiola: Difficult for Man City after first goal
Pep Guardiola speaking to TNT Sports: “The game was in the 2-1 [in the first leg], we conceded with a mistake in the last two and coming here with one down [on aggregate] and start with an injury from John [Stones].
“After the action from the first goal, it was a little bit what happened all the season, but it’s more difficult, because of the quality they have. We want to extend that for a little bit longer for the result, and everything can happen, but after that, it was difficult.”
On Mbappe: “Not just him, they have a lot of players. It’s a fantastic team, so we just congratulate them, they deserve to go through.”
On the objective for the rest of the campaign: “Win against Liverpool in the next game and qualify for the Champions League next season.”
Ancelotti: We are a dangerous team
Real Madrid will face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16
Carlo Ancelotti speaking to TNT Sports: “Our goal was to be good defensively and we have a lot of quality in attack. We’re not always able to defend as a block but in these two games we did it and we had the quality.
“[Mbappe] is a fantastic player, we have a lot of quality when they are able to connect to [Jude] Bellingham we are really dangerous. That happened in the two games, we had lots of opportunities against a really good team.”
Was Ancelotti surprised by how little Man City created?
“A little bit. We spent a lot of time in a low block – the players understood to work collectively in defence.”
