Mbappe hat-trick as Real Madrid knock Man City out of Champions League
Kylian Mbappe struck a brilliant hat-trick for Champions League holders Real Madrid in a 3-1 win over Manchester City on Wednesday, February 19, helping Los Blancos reach the last 16 with a 6-3 aggregate victory.
Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a painful early exit without laying a glove on the completely dominant 15-time record winners until Nico Gonzalez tapped home in stoppage time.
French superstar Mbappe broke the deadlock with a lob in the fourth minute and netted a fine second after combining with his attacking partners as the English side were sliced open.
The striker, in sensational form after a slow start to life at Madrid, completed his treble in the second half with a low strike from the edge of the box to reach seven goals in the competition this season in 10 appearances.
City, who won the competition in 2023, were a far cry from their best as has been the case for much of their campaign.
Guardiola was dealt bad news before the game with Haaland, who netted twice in the first leg, named on the bench after suffering a knock at the weekend against Newcastle.
By contrast, Real Madrid welcomed Antonio Rudiger back from injury and he slotted seamlessly into defence, with Aurelien Tchouameni restored to his preferred midfield slot.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side performed almost flawlessly in the first half and took the lead in the opening stages.
Mbappe shrugged off Ruben Dias and lofted the ball over City goalkeeper Ederson after young centre-back Raul Asencio played him in with a long pass.
John Stones limped off for the visitors a few minutes later in another blow for the Premier League champions.
Fede Valverde had a shot deflected narrowly wide and Ederson saved from Mbappe after Tchouameni sent him dashing in on goal with another ball over the top.
Mbappe netted his second in the 33rd minute after Madrid’s “fantastic four” star players combined. Jude Bellingham fed Vinicius who rolled the ball across for Rodrygo, who nudged it to Mbappe.
The former Paris Saint-Germain forward moved inside to leave the flailing Josko Gvardiol sliding in the wrong direction and drilled home at the near post.
Guardiola had claimed City only had “one per cent chance” of beating Madrid and his team played like they believed him.
Madrid’s only blot on their copybook was a booking for Bellingham for fouling England teammate Phil Foden, leaving him suspended for the last 16 first leg.
Bellingham, who caused a stir after being sent off for dissent last weekend in LaLiga, was assured in midfield but the night belonged to Mbappe.
The 26-year-old completed his hat-trick with a superb individual goal just after the hour mark, opening up some space on the edge of the box and firing beyond Ederson as City’s defence stood off.
Mbappe departed to a standing ovation and Madrid continued to create chances in his absence but could not take them, as the home fans marvelled at the ease of their team’s victory, against an opponent with whom they have shared many close battles in the past decade.
The visitors pulled a goal back in stoppage time when Omar Marmoush crashed a free-kick against the crossbar and Gonzalez rolled home the rebound, but it offered scant consolation.
City have now lost 13 games in their last 26 across all competitions, and face Premier League leaders Liverpool next on Sunday, with a battle to finish in the top four on their hands.
Madrid, by contrast, are still in the running for three major competitions and with Mbappe in such sensational form, believe they can win all of them.
Next up in the last 16 is a clash with either city rivals Atletico or German champions Bayer Leverkusen.
PSV beat Juventus in extra time to reach Champions League last 16
Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven scrambled into the last 16 of the Champions League Wednesday, after a pulsating 3-1 extra-time win over Juventus gave them a 4-3 aggregate play-off victory.
Centre-back Ryan Flamingo seized on some poor Juventus defending to poke the ball home in the first period of extra time, sending PSV through to face either Arsenal or Inter Milan.
Roared on by a boisterous crowd at the Philips Stadion, the hosts started the brighter, pressing the Juventus defence, dominating possession, and winning 50-50 balls.
But the first half ended goalless, PSV unable to turn possession into opportunity and Juventus happy to sit on their 2-1 lead from the first leg in Turin.
Needing a goal to stay in the tie, the home side attacked the second half with more urgency, and with 53 minutes on the clock, PSV were back in the tie with a magnificent goal.
Winger Noa Lang beat two Juventus defenders and delivered a pinpoint pass to veteran Croatian striker Ivan Perisic, who controlled the ball brilliantly and drilled an unstoppable shot into the corner.
PSV were well on top, Lang curling a shot just past the post and talismanic striker Luuk de Jong seeing his header cleared off the line.
But against the run of play, the Serie A side took back the aggregate lead via a fantastic strike from Timothy Weah, who blazed a low shot past Walter Benitez from outside the penalty area.
PSV continued to press hard and the pressure eventually told as Moroccan midfielder Ismael Saibari seized on a goalmouth scramble to smash the ball into the top corner.
With the score at 3-3 on aggregate, the Dutch champions had several agonising chances to wrap the match up in the last five minutes, Lang in particular denied by an outstretched foot from goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
Saibari fluffed a chance to take the lead in the second minute of extra time, scuffing his shot at Di Gregorio when clean through on goal.
But then the hosts took the lead, as Flamingo pounced on some goalmouth confusion in the Juventus defence to poke the ball home from point-blank range.
The onus was now on Juventus to attack and Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic was unlucky to see his effort rebound off the post.
The PSV faithful endured a nailbiting second period of extra time, but saw their defence hold firm to cap a memorable night in Eindhoven.
Dortmund ease into Champions League last 16 after Sporting stalemate
Borussia Dortmund cruised into the last 16 of the Champions League after a goalless draw with Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday sealed a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Serhou Guirassy missed a second-half penalty but it mattered for nothing in the end as last season’s finalists were rarely troubled by Sporting and coasted through.
Dortmund’s reward is a last 16 game against Aston Villa or Lille.
It was always a tough ask for this young Sporting side ravaged by injury to overturn the damage done in last week’s first leg, when Guirassy, Pascal Gross and Karim Adeyemi all scored.
Dortmund dominated much of the return leg on a freezing night in Germany, with Marcel Sabitzer coming closest to breaking the deadlock with a rasping drive from distance that Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva did well to palm around his post.
After the break, Dortmund got the chance to put the tie to bed from the spot when Silva was adjudged to have brought down Adeyemi in the box after Nico Schlotterbeck’s long pass split the visitors’ defence.
But Guirassy’s well-hit penalty was saved superbly by the Portuguese goalkeeper low to his right, denying the Guinean striker an 11th Champions League goal in 10 games this season.
Gio Reyna came off the bench and almost made an immediate impact against the Portuguese league leaders, hitting the post, but this was a night when Dortmund created little and Sporting even less, with the visitors failing to register a single shot on target.
Ultimately, Sporting lacked the ambition to turn around the tie, allowing Niko Kovac’s side to progress on the back of a relatively easy night’s work.
PSG Embarrass Brest 7-0 To Progress
PSG secured passage into the Champions League Round of 16, beating Brest 7-0 at the Parc des Princes, 10-0 on aggregate.
The Parisians were professional, not allowing complacency despite leading 3-0 after the first leg. Goals came from Bradley Barcola, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Ramos, and Senny Mayulu.
PSG controlled the game’s early stages, looking to keep the clock ticking while not making the game too stretched.
The visitors had the first big chance, Marquinhos clearing off the line from a shot by Mathias Pereira-Lage in the 12th minute.
PSG was not holding back on their attacking threat, looking to put the tie beyond doubt; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fired just over from the edge of the area. However, they did just that in the 20th minute, with Bradley Barcola smashing in on the near post, timing his run perfectly to stay onside.
The French champions continued to push forward, with the Pirates looking to avoid an embarrassing scoreline. Ousmane Dembele and Nuno Mendes created crossing opportunities in the box, with Brest doing just enough to clear the ball.
It got better six minutes before halftime when Kvaratskhelia scored his first Champions League goal in a PSG jersey. The Georgian slotted it home from a tight angle after an excellent ground cross from Barcola.
It was an offense against the defense in the second half, with PSG piling on the pressure and looking for more goals. They got just that, with Vitinha guiding one into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Luis Enrique made early substitutes, resting his top players ahead of the weekend game against Lyon, with the tie all but decided.
One of those subs, Desire Doue, made it 4-0, smashing past a defender on the line after good work by Goncalo Ramos, another one of those fresh legs that came on.
The goals kept coming, with Nuno Mendes (69′) bursting into the six-yard box to tap in an Achraf Hakimi cross.
The home team was not done with the scoring. Goncalo Ramos (76′) guided in a cross from Doue, returning the favor for his goal earlier.
Senny Mayulu made it seven in the 86th minute with an assist from Kvaratskhelia—seven different goalscorers on the night for Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG will look to Friday for the Champions League Round of 16 draw, where they will face Liverpool or Barcelona. It’s a tough test, whoever it is, but they will fancy their chances.
*Reports, except the headline, are from SuperSport and Sports Illustrated.
