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Erling Haaland benched, Ruben Dias left on the floor and Josko Gvardiol ended up sliding – Kylian Mbappe co-directed a magical night with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday. Mercurial Mbappe fired a stunning hat-trick to dump Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City out of the UEFA Champions League as the record-time winners made a mockery of the blockbuster tie at home. Madrid’s 3-1 triumph over the English Premier League holders sanctioned Guardiola’s first exit from the elite competition before the traditional round of 16 phase.
The former FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager suffered his maiden rout prior to the knockout round in his 16th season. The record tenth meeting between Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti was headlined by on-song Mbappe, who became the first player to have hat tricks at Bernabeu (against Man City) and Camp Nou (against Barcelona) in Champions League history. Equalling Lionel Messi‘s lowkey feat in the Champions League, Madrid’s No.9 is the joint-highest goal-getter (7) against Guardiola. With 358 goals and 142 assists 500 at the age of 26, the Frenchman has been directly involved in 500 goals (club and country) across all competitions.
Carlo Ancelotti called it ‘Clasico’ and it did not disappoint. #RealMadrid #ManchesterCity #ManchesterCityRealMadrid #ChampionsLeague #MCIvRMA pic.twitter.com/RXsULYN1N9
— Siddharth Thakur (@fvosid) February 12, 2025
Why did Haaland fail to feature?
For the partisans, the writing was on the wall when Haaland’s name went missing from the starting XI of the visitors. Fresh from an impressive brace against Los Blancos at Etihad, Haaland remained a benchwarmer in City’s 3-6 aggregate trounce to Madrid. So why did Haaland start on the bench? City head coach Guardiola revealed that the ex-Borussia Dortmund forward had ‘discomfort’ in walking in the lead-up to the away fixture. “Erling trained yesterday but he has discomfort walking and for example on stairs,” the Man City head coach said. “We spoke yesterday, and this morning and he said he didn’t feel good, didn’t feel ready.”
Credit where it’s due, Jude
Reflecting on Madrid’s memorable double over Man City, midfielder Jude Bellingham doffed his hat to Rodrygo. For the unversed, French legend Thierry Henry urged Bellingham to share insights about Rodrygo’s pivotal role. “Please can you talk about this guy, Rodrygo? Because no one talks about him but his work rate and his skills, what he does for the team,” Henry mentioned during Paramount+ of the Champions League classic. “Rodrygo is so underrated. I think, for me, he’s probably the most talented and most gifted player in the squad. The things he can do with the football… We’ll be messing around and he’ll flick the ball up somehow and you’ll be like, how did you do that?!,” Bellingham responded.
PSG join Dortmund; Juventus and Milan bow out
While midfielder Federico Valverde turned out to be a perfect right back and Raul Asencio reminded the Spanish faithful of legendary Sergio Ramos at Bernabeu, the Champions League playoff phase also produced unbelievable stories in Italy. PSV Eindhoven picked up a remarkable 3-1 win at home to eliminate former champions Juventus from the Champions League. The Old Lady is the third Serie A side after AC Milan and Atalanta to bow out of the competition in the knockout round this season. Mbappe’s former side, Paris Saint-Germain, recorded a 10-0 aggregate triumph over Brest to seal their berth in the last 16 of the Champions League. Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund entered the last 16 after a goalless draw with Sporting in their final playoff encounter.
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