Real Madrid v Manchester City (Champions League 2024-25)

UEFA Champions League

Real Madrid Manchester City 3 1
BBC Report UEFA Report Real Madrid won 6–3 on aggregate.
Event	2024–25 UEFA Champions League
Date	Wednesday 19 February 2025
Venue	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
Player of the Match	Kylian Mbappé
Referee	István Kovács (Romania)
Weather	13 °C (55 °F) Humidity:81% Wind:5 km/ h
← Real Madrid - Osasuna Man City - Newcastle Utd Real Madrid - Girona Man City - Liverpool →

Real Madrid v Manchester City was a match which took place at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday 19 February 2025.

Preview

Real Madrid hold the upper hand against Manchester City as the teams meet for the conclusion of their UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off tie.

Paired together for the fourth season in succession, a pulsating first leg at the City of Manchester Stadium on 11 February ended 3-2 to the holders despite Erling Haaland twice giving the home side the lead (19, 80pen). Kylian Mbappé (60) and former City forward Brahim Díaz (86) both levelled before Jude Bellingham snatched victory for Madrid with the final kick of the game (90+2), inflicting City's first home European loss in 36 matches.

Madrid eliminated City in dramatic fashion in the 2021/22 semi-finals and last season's quarter-finals, going on to lift the trophy on each occasion. City, meanwhile, prevailed in the last four two seasons ago on their way to claiming a first European Cup.

Madrid had already faced Premier League opponents this season before the first leg, going down 2-0 at Liverpool on Matchday 5.

A 3-2 second-leg loss after extra time to Chelsea in the 2021/22 quarter-finals – a tie Madrid won 5-4 on aggregate – is one of only four they have suffered at home to English clubs.

Madrid's record in two-legged knockout ties against English clubs is W14 L7. Wins against Liverpool and Chelsea in 2022/23 prior to losing to City and last season's success against City have made it nine aggregate victories in the last 12, although their last three Champions League eliminations have all been by Premier League opponents – Chelsea in the 2020/21 semi-finals (1-1 h, 0-2 a) and City in the 2019/20 round of 16 and 2022/23 semi-finals.

Including the 2021/22 final, this is the tenth time Madrid have been paired with English opposition in their last 14 Champions League knockout ties, and the eighth in the last 11.

Madrid claimed their record-extending 15th European Cup in 2023/24 with a 2-0 final victory against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

The Spanish side have won 20 of their last 27 home European games (D4 L3), the 1-3 defeat by AC Milan on Matchday 4 ending a 16-match unbeaten run (W13 D3). Madrid have scored 13 goals in winning their other three home matches this season, against Stuttgart (3-1), Dortmund (5-2) and Salzburg (5-1).

The Merengues claimed their second La Liga championship in three years and 36th overall in 2023/24.

Madrid have won 37 of the 39 ties in which they recorded an away first-leg win in UEFA competition, most recently against Leipzig in last season's round of 16. They lost against Ajax in the 2018/19 Champions League round of 16 (2-1 a, 1-4 h), their first aggregate defeat when winning the away first leg since losing to OB Odense in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup third round (3-2 a, 0-2 h) – the latter the sole previous tie in which they won the away first leg 3-2.

City had already faced Spanish opposition last season before taking on Madrid, beating Sevilla 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Super Cup in Piraeus.

Guardiola's side won 4-0 at Sevilla on Matchday 1 in 2022/23, one of only four victories in their 16 visits to Spain (D4 L8).

City have now lost two of their last 15 games against Spanish sides, a run that includes eight victories.

Last season's defeat against Madrid made City's record against Spanish clubs in two-legged knockout ties W4 L6.

This is City's 14th successive season in the Champions League proper; they have featured in every campaign since 2011/12 and have reached the knockout stages in each of the last 12.

The first-leg defeat ended City's 35-match unbeaten home run in Europe (W30 D5), since a 1-2 loss to Lyon on Matchday 1 in 2018/19.

The Cityzens have won 20 of their last 38 away European matches (D10 L8), including 4-0 at Slovan Bratislava on Matchday 2, and were unbeaten in 12 (W6 D6), since losing at Madrid in 2022, before going down 4-1 at Sporting CP on Matchday 4. Subsequent losses at Juventus (0-2) and Paris Saint-Germain (2-4) – a game in which City had led 2-0 – made it three successive away defeats for the first time since 2012.

City have lost two of the three European ties in which they were beaten in the home first leg, both against Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16, in 2013/14 (0-2 h, 1-2 a) and 2014/15 (1-2 h, 0-1 a). They lost 1-0 to Midtjylland in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round, triumphing by the same scoreline in Denmark and going through 4-2 on penalties.

Madrid made it three La Liga games without a win with a 1-1 draw at Osasuna on Saturday, losing Jude Bellingham to a first-half red card after taking the lead through Kylian Mbappé before being pegged back.

A Mbappé equaliser earned La Liga leaders Madrid a 1-1 draw at home to second-placed Atlético de Madrid on 8 February, the first time Carlo Ancelotti's team had failed to win successive league games this season.

Mbappé has 11 goals in his last ten games, 17 in La Liga, and is Madrid's top scorer this season with 25 in all competitions.

Madrid's five-game winning run, with 20 goals scored, was ended by a 1-0 loss at Espanyol on 1 February.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have scored 40 goals in their 14 games in 2025 (W10 D2 L2). The defeat at Espanyol is the only time in 21 matches they have failed to score.

Antonio Rüdiger went off with a thigh injury early on at Espanyol and has not played since.

David Alaba, who was out between 17 December 2023 and 19 January 2025 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, was diagnosed with an adductor injury on 4 February.

Lucas Vázquez has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem.

Dani Carvajal (out since 5 October) and Éder Militão (9 November) are expected to miss the rest of the season with knee injuries.

The first leg was Ancelotti's 72nd European Cup game in charge of Real Madrid, overtaking Miguel Muñoz's club record.

Omar Marmoush's 15-minute hat-trick helped City to a 4-0 home win against Newcastle on Saturday, his first goals for the club. That was City's 44th Premier League hat-trick, two more than any other club.

A 5-1 loss at Arsenal on 2 February ended City's six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League and was their heaviest away league defeat since losing 4-0 to Everton in January 2017.

That was the fourth time City had conceded four or more goals in a game this season, the most in a campaign in Pep Guardiola's managerial career.

City have conceded 57 goals in 39 games in all competitions this season, three more than in their 59 matches last season.

The English champions have six wins in their last 16 Premier League matches (D3 L7).

Erling Haaland has 19 goals in 25 Premier League appearances in 2024/25 and six in his last seven.

Haaland went off late on on Saturday with a knee problem.

Jack Grealish (groin) and Manuel Akanji (adductor) missed the weekend win having gone off in the first leg; Akanji is likely to be out for up to ten weeks after surgery.

Oscar Bobb suffered a leg fracture in training on 14 August.

Rodri suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Arsenal on 22 September and underwent surgery that is expected to rule him out for the rest of the season.

Match Report

Manchester City's Champions League campaign came to a tame conclusion at the Bernabeu as Kylian Mbappe's brilliant hat-trick inspired holders Real Madrid to a comfortable victory and place in the last 16.

Pep Guardiola's side were attempting to reverse a 3-2 deficit from the play-off first leg but this contest was effectively over after four minutes when Mbappe's precise lob from Raul Asencio's pass increased their advantage.

City, with Erling Haaland only fit enough for the bench, saw their plight worsen moments after Mbappe's opener when they lost defender John Stones to injury.

And City's earliest Champions League exit since they failed to get out of the group in 2012-13 edged closer when Mbappe showed brilliant close control to wrong-foot Josko Gvardiol before beating Ederson after 33 minutes.

The France forward's third came just after the hour with a low shot as City subsided, barely laying a glove on Real all night as they were outclassed.

City pulled a goal back when Nico Gonzalez turned in his first goal for the club after Omar Marmoush's free-kick hit the bar, but it was no consolation on a desperate night for the reigning Premier League champions.

It was a chastening experience for Guardiola, whose discomfort was particularly relished by Real's fans because of his old Barcelona allegiances, as he faces a mammoth task to rebuild and restore City to Europe's top table.

Guardiola admitted Manchester City would have to suffer at the Bernabeu - and no-one seemed to be suffering more than the man who must rebuild this fallen side after this dismal defeat.

They were dealt a bitter blow before kick-off when Haaland failed to recover fully from the knee injury he picked up against Newcastle United on Saturday, robbing his manager of his main attacking threat.

The concession of the early goal was the nightmare Guardiola must have feared, his despair flashed on the many giant screens surrounding this magnificent arena.

Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva did not have the legs to cope with Real's energy and running in midfield, while Guardiola left Kevin de Bruyne on the bench after he failed to make an impact at Etihad Stadium.

Jude Bellingham cruised through the game, while Real keeper Thibaut Courtois was almost a spectator.

Abdukodir Khusanov had a tough night in an unfamiliar right-back role, Real making him a target for so many of their attacks. It was hard not to feel sympathy for the 20-year-old newcomer.

The manner of City's defeat and elimination only confirmed what Guardiola surely already knows – that it is time to usher in a new era following the years of success.

This is Real Madrid's tournament. This is Real Madrid's time of year.

The noises of appreciation that swept around the stadium as Carlo Ancelotti's holders dominated carried an ominous tone for every other contender aiming to stop Real claiming a 16th triumph in this tournament.

When Real lost 2-0 at Liverpool in November they looked laboured and off the pace, without Vinicius Junior and with Mbappe still finding his feet after his move to Madrid.

Here, Mbappe looked every inch the world-class operator he is, showing class and composure to lob Ederson for his first, then showing superb sleight of foot to bamboozle Gvardiol for his second.

The hat-trick goal crowned the 26-year-old's perfect night, fully deserving the rapturous standing ovation he received when substituted 13 minutes from time.

Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Mbappe form an attacking triumvirate that is a threat to any opponents they face and it was all too much for City, even more so after they lost Stones to injury after only seven minutes.

And, of course, watching it all from the sidelines was the Champions League's history man, Ancelotti, who has been over this course and distance so successfully, a five-time winner as a coach. He knows how this particular job is done.

Real Madrid, the most successful and ruthless operators in the Champions League, look in the mood once more.

Match

Details

19 February 2025 21:00 CET	Real Madrid	3–1	Manchester City	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid Referee: István Kovács (Romania)
	Mbappé  4', 33', 61'	BBC Report UEFA Report	González  90+2'

Real Madrid

Manchester City

01 Thibaut Courtois 08 Federico Valverde 90' 35 Raúl Asencio 22 Antonio Rüdiger 23 Ferland Mendy 14 Aurélien Tchouaméni 83' 19 Dani Ceballos 78' 11 Rodrygo 05 Jude Bellingham 38' 07 Vinicius Júnior 90' 09 Kylian Mbappé 78' Substitutes: 04 David Alaba 90' 06 Eduardo Camavinga 78' 10 Luka Modrić 83' 13 Andriy Lunin 15 Arda Güler 16 Endrick 90' 17 Lucas Vázquez 18 Jesús Vallejo 20 Fran García 21 Brahim Díaz 78' 34 Sergio Mestre Manager: Carlo Ancelotti

31 Ederson 45 Abdukodir Khusanov 03 Rúben Dias 05 John Stones 8' 26 Savinho 14 Nico González 47' 19 İlkay Gündoğan 77' 28' 24 Joško Gvardiol 47 Phil Foden 77' 20 Bernardo Silva 07 Omar Marmoush Substitutes: 06 Nathan Aké 8' 08 Mateo Kovačić 77' 09 Erling Haaland 10 Jack Grealish 11 Jérémy Doku 17 Kevin De Bruyne 18 Stefan Ortega 27 Matheus Nunes 33 Scott Carson 82 Rico Lewis 87 James McAtee 77' Manager: Pep Guardiola

Match Stats

• Match Stats

Overall	Real Madrid	Manchester City
Goals scored	3	1
Total shots	15	12
Shots on target	8	4
Ball possession	48%	52%
Corner kicks	7	5
Fouls committed	9	9

See also

• 2024–25 UEFA Champions League
• 1st Leg

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at UEFA.com