Man City 1-2 Real Madrid (1-5 aggregate): Manager Josep Guardiola believes his team’s hopes of a dramatic turnaround ended after Bernardo Silva was shown a first-half red card.
Manchester City are eliminated from the Champions League after losing on aggregate to Real Madrid
Manchester City’s European dreams have turned into an annual nightmare at the hands of Real Madrid.
In what was a thrilling but ultimately unforgettable night for Josep Guardiola, he saw Bernardo Silva sent off and Vinicius Junior converting a first-half penalty to help the Spanish giants knock City out of Europe for the third consecutive season.
Erling Haaland pulled one back for the hosts, but it wasn’t enough to avoid another Champions League failure in what could be Guardiola’s last night in Europe as City manager. And Vinicius rubbed salt in City’s wounds by scoring the winning goal in the final action of the match.
Real made two changes, including the return of former Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Kylian Mbappé on the bench as he recovers from a knee problem.
Given the magnitude of the challenge facing the team, Mbappe was the last person Guardiola would want to meet. After a crushing defeat in Madrid, City needed something magical in Manchester to reach the quarter-finals.
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And Guardiola was determined to do something special without Marc Guech, Antoine Semenyo and Nico O’Reilly, who were all on the bench. It was a bold decision on Guardiola’s part, but he knew it was a night where he and his players had to be brave.
Real supporters were so confident their team would advance that the Spanish giants sent back entire unsold tickets. However, his amazing comeback by knocking out Sporting Lisbon’s Bodo/Glimt showed what was possible.
However, Real should have taken the lead within 60 seconds when Vinicius’ pass cut through City’s defense and fed Federico Valverde neatly into the goal.
But the man who smashed City with a hat-trick in the first leg had left his shooting boots in Spain and his lobs never threatened to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Their explosive start never let up, with Thibaut Courtois making two smart saves to deny Silva and Rodri. Rayan Cherki then put a shot wide of the net when he should have done better, but Real continued to look vulnerable.
Bernardo Silva given a red card for handball on the line
However, City’s night collapsed after just 22 minutes and their hopes were dashed. Vinicius did the damage again, beating the offside trap before his shot hit the post.
However, the ball bounced back to him, and the subsequent shot was handled by Silva on the line. After a VAR check, Real were awarded a penalty, which Vinicius converted and Silva was sent off for denying a goal.
Guardiola looked as if he had been hit by a truck. He was wanted for harassing a fourth official.
It was an incredible contest, with chances being wasted at both ends. Vinicius should have completed his hat-trick with five minutes remaining, but Erling Haaland had his shot denied from close range by Courtois.
But the bottom line was that Guardiola’s men faced an impossible mission. Coming back from a 4-0 deficit with 10 players against Real’s strength is like climbing Mount Everest in flip-flops. That wasn’t likely to happen.
Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring the first goal from a penalty kick
Haaland gave the visitors a glimmer of hope with a goal before half-time, but his 30th goal in all competitions still felt like a consolation. Real looked like they could score every time they moved forward because they had more space.
Players from both teams collided when Vinicius thought he was elbowed in the face by Abdukkodir Kusanov. City were literally fighting as the clash threatened to boil over. That would have been a shame considering how thrilling the football was on both sides.
City continued to press, but Vinicius Jr. scored a goal in the final minute of the game, winning the match that night and further underscoring the total victory.
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