Mbappe hat-trick help Real Madrid sink Manchester City
Mbappe hat-trick help Real Madrid sink Manchester City
Real Madrid easily beat Manchester City 3-1 with a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick on Wednesday in their Champions League playoff second leg.
The win at the Santiago Bernabeu earned Madrid a 6-3 aggregate victory and a place in the last 16.
The 2024 champions will face either Bayer Leverkusen or city rivals Atletico Madrid, depending on Friday’s draw, as they seek a record-extending 16th title.
It was the first time in City coach Pep Guardiola’s illustrious career that one of his teams in the Champions League had failed to reach the round of 16.
“It was a perfect night,” Mbappe said.
“It’s only logical that Real Madrid advance to the last 16 of the Champions League. We are very strong at home and it’s great to give joy to our fans.”
After a breathtaking first leg packed with goals and individual brilliance from both sides at the Etihad Stadium, the return game was thoroughly one-sided.
Real did not have to work too hard to subdue their sorry rivals who failed to manage a shot on target in the first half, looking a shadow of Guardiola’s dominant force from past years.
Already 3-2 down from the first game, City’s task became even harder an hour before kick-off when they announced a starting 11 without leading striker Erling Haaland, who suffered a knee injury at the weekend.
Real took full control of proceedings from the off and never looked under threat with the hapless visitors lucky not to lose by a larger margin.
Mbappe opened the scoring with Real’s first attack in the fourth minute, taking advantage of another massive blunder by City’s defence when captain Ruben Dias missed his header and left the French forward free to lob over the onrushing Ederson.
Things went from bad to worse for the English team after defender John Stones went down two minutes later with an injury, forcing Guardiola to bring Nathan Ake off the bench and burn a substitution early.
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Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham toyed with City’s complacent defence, keeping the ball on the deck and creating several chances until Mbappe scored again in the 33rd minute with a close-range strike after a humiliating cutback that left defender Josko Gvardiol on the floor.
Real came out just as strong after the break and Mbappe scored his third in the 61st minute with a left-footed strike from the edge of the box just inside Ederson’s right post.
The hosts kept piling on the pressure and wasting chances, with Ederson making fine saves to deny Mbappe and Rodrygo, but towards the end they took their foot off the gas with a easy win in the bag.
City did score a compensation goal at the death, Nico Gonzalez converting a rebound after Omar Marmoush’s free kick bounced off the crossbar, but it did little to tarnish a fantastic night for the Spaniards. (Reuters/NAN)
