Rafael Varane’s double blunder sees Manchester City ease into the Champions League quarter-final | OneFootball

Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League at the round of 16 stage after a 4-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Premier League side Manchester City.

Los Blancos succumbed to a 2-1 loss at the Bernabeu during the first leg in February and they needed to score at least two goals at the Etihad Stadium to give themselves a chances of making the next round.

However, they made the worst possible start as Varane’s slow decision-making in the box saw Gabriel Jesus steal possession in the ninth minute before squaring the ball to Raheem Sterling to tap in the opening goal.

With Los Blancos trailing 3-1 on aggregate, they needed at least two goals to take the game to extra-time and Karim Benzema scored one of them through a delightful header before the half an hour mark.

Still, Los Blancos never looked in the ascendancy with the defensive lapses every now and then and they were made to pay the price in the 68th minute with Varane once again being the culprit.

The Frenchman sought to play a backpass to Courtois, but his poor headed attempt saw Jesus pounce on the ball ahead of the goalkeeper to make it 2-1 in the Cityzens’ favour on the night.

Zinedine Zidane tried to change things off the bench with the introduction of the likes of Marco Asensio, but the Cityzens were pretty much in command of the entire contest.

Manchester City were undoubtedly the dominant side with the possession and chances on the night and they could have won by a greater margin, had Sterling been more clinical on goal.

Los Blancos have now been eliminated at the last 16 stage of the elite competition for two years in a row after winning the title in the previous three seasons under Zidane.

Meanwhile, in an extraordinary statistic, the round of 16 exit to the Cityzens was the first occasion that Zidane has been eliminated from the Champions League as a head coach.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com