MAN CITY 1-2 REAL MADRID (1-5 on aggregate): Pep Guardiola watched any hope of a dramatic comeback for his side ended after Bernardo Silva was shown a first-half red card
Manchester City are out of the Champions League after their aggregate defeat to Real Madrid
Manchester City are out of the Champions League after their aggregate defeat to Real Madrid
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Manchester City's European dream turned into its annual nightmare at the hands of Real Madrid.
On a thrilling but ultimately forgettable evening for Pep Guardiola, he saw Bernardo Silva sent off and Vinicius Junior score a first half penalty, which helped the Spanish giants dump City out of Europe for the third straight season.
Erling Haaland pulled one back for the hosts, but it was never going to be enough to spare Guardiola more Champions League failure - on what could prove to be his last European night as City manager. And Vinicius rubbed salt in the City wounds with a winning goal with the last action of the game.
Real made two changes, one of which was the return of former Liverpool full back Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Kylian Mbappe was on the bench after recovering from a knee problem.
Mbappe was the last person Guardiola would have wanted to see, given the size of the task his team was facing. Having been mauled in Madrid, City needed something magical in Manchester to reach the quarter finals.
And Guardiola banked on doing something special without Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Nico O'Reilly, who were all dropped to the bench. It was a bold call from Guardiola, but he knew this was a night when him and his players had to be brave.
Real's supporters had been so confident their team would go through, the Spanish giants sent back a full block of unsold tickets. Yet Sporting Lisbon's stunning comeback to knock out Bodo/Glimt had shown what was possible.
But Real should have gone ahead inside 60 seconds when Vinicius's pass split open the City defence and sent Federico Valverde clean through on goal.
But the man who demolished City with a hat-trick in the first leg had left his shooting boots back in Spain, and his lob never threatened to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.
An explosive start which never calmed down, saw Thibaut Courtois produce two smart saves to deny Silva and Rodri. Rayan Cherki then shot wide when he should have done better, as Real continued to look vulnerable.
Bernardo Silva was given a red card after his handball on the line
Bernardo Silva was given a red card after his handball on the line
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But City's evening imploded inside 22 minutes to leave their hopes in tatters. Vinicius did the damage again, beating the off-side trap before seeing his shot come back off the post.
But when the loose ball came back to him, his follow up strike was handled on the line by Silva. A VAR check gave Real a penalty which Vinicius converted, while Silva was sent off for denying the goal.
Guardiola looked like he'd been flattened by a truck. He was the booked for remonstrating with the fourth official.
Chances continued to be wasted at both ends in what had turned into an incredible contest. Vinicius should have had a hat-trick in five minutes, while Erling Haaland was denied from close range by Courtois.
But the bottom line was Guardiola's men were facing mission impossible. Overhauling a 4-0 deficit with 10 men against the might of Real was the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest in a pair of flip flops. It just wasn't going to happen.
Vinicius Jr celebrates after scoring the opener from the spot
Vinicius Jr celebrates after scoring the opener from the spot
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Haaland pulled one back before half time to raise a glimmer of hope, but his 30th goal of the season in all competitions still felt nothing more than a consolation. The extra space Real had meant they looked capable of scoring with every forward surge.
Players from both sides clashed when Vinicius thought he'd been elbowed in the face by Abdukodir Khusanov. City were going down fighting, quite literally, as the clash threatened to boil over. Which would have been a shame, considering how thrilling the football had been from both sides.
City continued to push, but Vinicius Jr had the last moment of the game, scoring a goal which won the game on the night - and made their aggregate victory even more emphatic.
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