Kylian Mbappe scored a brilliant hat-trick to send Manchester City tumbling out of the Champions League at the earliest stage in 13 years.
The Real Madrid striker toyed with the City defence in a 3-1 win that saw the Spanish giants adnavce to the round of 16 6-3 on aggregate.
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He struck first just four minutes into the game, pushing aside Ruben Dias and lobbing home a shot.
City lost John Stones to injury soon after and Mbappe increased the lead on 33 minutes, completing his hat-trick on the hour.
City pulled a goal back when Nico Gonzalez scored in his first goal for the club in injury time, with the tie sealed long before it.
“Manchester City are miles off it,” said former England player Paul Robinson on the BBC.
“They really are. We have seen them lose games in the Premier League that we wouldn’t have expected them to lose. But look in the Champions League, losing away at Sporting, the loss at Juventus, the way that they capitulated at Paris St-Germain. There have been signs of their form coming back in the league but tonight highlighted all the flaws that they have got.”
City’s star striker Erling Haaland was left on the bench, not fit enough to start, and watched Mbappe dominate.
“A perfect night for the team. We wanted to win. We wanted to qualify for the next round. For us it was only logical that Real Madrid reached the next round of the Champions League,” Mbappe said.
“When you play against Manchester City it is always a difficult game but we knew that at home we would be very strong. We played better as a group and we were able to give a lot of joy to the fans. We have to continue in this way if we are to win what we want to win this season.
“I want to play well here, I want to make a mark on the season. I want to write history with Real Madrid. The adaptation period for me has ended and now I have to show my quality.”
Madrid star Jude Bellingham hailed Mbappe’s impact.
“It is brilliant playing with him. You go into games knowing you can give him the ball and he is going to affect things. Our jobs behind him and the rest of the front three is to try and get them into the best positions possible and I myself try and get in the box too,” said Bellingham.
“You know when Kylian gets the ball in the areas he likes on the pitch he is going to be dangerous. Left foot or right foot. He scored a few different types of goals today.
“It is incredible what he has done in his career. I know he had a slow start here and took time getting used to life here. Now he is flying and it’s so good to see.”
City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged his team didn’t deserve to advance.
“After we conceded the goal in the first action we didn’t defend well, it was more and more difficult. We have to accept it, the best team won so congratulations to Real Madrid. Now we focus on the Premier League,” Guardiola said.
“It’s a fantastic team, they deserve to go through. We didn’t deserve it, it’s the first year we didn’t make a good Champions League season. We have to accept it and fight for next season to be here again.
“Of course Real Madrid are contenders to win the Champions League now, but there are other good teams around.
Italian giants Juventus were knocked out by PSV 4-3 on aggregate, scoring a 3-1 extra time win at home.
It continued a shocking two days for Italian clubs with Juve joining AC Milan and Atalanta at being knocked out in the playoffs.
Paris Saint-Germain beat French rivals Brest 7-0, to run up a 10-0 aggregate score, and will play either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16.
In the early game Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund started with a 3-0 lead at home to Sporting Lisbon and were barely stretched in a 0-0 draw. Sporting’s Champions League campaign imploded after coach Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United in November.
The Roarhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/02/20/city-are-miles-off-it-mbappes-hat-trick-dumps-peps-flops-out-of-europe-juve-shocked-by-psv/‘City are miles off it’: Mbappe’s hat-trick dumps Pep’s flops out of Europe, Juve shocked by PSV
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