Real Madrid 3-1 Man City (6-3 agg): Match report & 4 talking points as Ancelotti prediction gets one step closer | OneFootball

Real Madrid are into the last 16 of the Champions League after a thumping 6-3 aggregate win over Manchester City in the knockout play-off round.

Madrid did the hard work at the Etihad Stadium a week earlier, coming from behind to claim a 3-2 victory in Manchester, before putting the icing on the metaphorical cake back home at the Bernabeu.

Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick was the difference on a one-sided night, firing Madrid ahead early on. He added a second during the first half, completing his treble with just over an hour played.

For Manchester City, who scored a late consolation through January signing Nico Gonzalez, they are out of the Champions League before the last 16 for the first time since failing to escape the group stage way back in 2012/13.

How the game unfolded

Manchester City began by immediately taking control of the ball, looking for the goal that would level the overall score-line. But before they could even start creating, the aggregate deficit was suddenly even bigger when a long pass over the centre-backs handed Mbappe a breakthrough.

There was still work to do for the Frenchman, but he kept his composure to lift the bouncing ball up and over Ederson, into the back of the net.

The two-goal buffer gave Madrid enormous confidence and it was like they were toying with City, playing with a freedom that resulted in attack after attack. A flurry of corners posed a huge threat, with the visitors ultimately just chasing shadows.

With half an hour played, Mbappe was played in behind the City defence again, unleashing a strike of the ball towards the near post that this time Ederson was equal to. That was a warning sign, because soon he had a second, extending the aggregate lead to three goals.

It was a blistering move starting on Madrid's right with Jude Bellingham, and taking in Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo for good measure, the latter poking the ball into Mbappe's path. He feinted to sit Josko Gvardiol on his backside, before firing low past the helpless Ederson.

Madrid started the second half equally on top, with Rodrygo firing over from just inside the penalty area after a chance was engineered by Federico Valverde. Ederson got his body behind another threatening Rodrygo effort, while Ruben Dias needed to be in the right place at the right time to cut out a stunning Valverde cross destined for Antonio Rudiger at the far post.

When Mbappe met another Valverde delivery, Ederson was on hand to save at close quarters.

Madrid's hero of the night didn't need to wait long to complete his hat-trick, easily beating Phil Foden with a stepover on the edge of the box and bending a measured left-footed finish into the far bottom corner. City fans won't have been happy with the lack of intensity defending it.

City mustered a little something in the final quarter of the game, with Foden stinging the palms of Thibaut Courtois in the Belgian goalkeeper's first real contribution. Amid a raft of substitutions from both coaches, that eventually paved the way for Gonzalez to score his first Champions League goal, turning in the rebound as Omar Marmoush's free-kick cannoned back off the crossbar.

Check out the player ratings from Real Madrid vs Man City here.

Mbappe the difference

Hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

This night encapsulated just why Real Madrid chased Kylian Mbappe for so long.

It was a slow start following his seismic July arrival, which can be excused given that he was expected to hit the ground running at a brand new club in a brand new country, off the back of an international tournament and minimal summer rest.

But Mbappe has been virtually unplayable in 2025 and this was his stage.

The best players in the world step up when it counts and he did that and then some. Four minutes in and took the very first chance of the game to effectively kill the tie there and then. His second goal of the evening was pure world class quality, able to take that extra split second to see the full picture in his head and embarrassing Josko Gvardiol.

With confidence coursing through his veins, his hat-trick strike was made to look so easy. But that's just how simple it can be when top players are in good form.

Haaland on the bench

Injury kept Erling Haaland on the bench / Carl Recine/GettyImages

Where Mbappe won the tie for Madrid, Erling Haaland was only among the subs for Manchester City.

Just days after captaining City to a handsome win over Newcastle United, having started all 34 prior Premier League and Champions League games, a knock carried over meant the Norwegian was not considered fit enough to start after only rejoining training on Tuesday.

Double injury blow

John Stones lasted hardly any time / JAVIER SORIANO/GettyImages

Excuse the pun, but City just didn't have the stones for it.

Already reeling from the absence of their top scorer and falling behind early, City lost senior centre-back John Stones to injury inside the opening ten minutes.

His withdrawal really seemed to knock the rest of the team, with Madrid turning the screw and City barely able to lay a glove on an opponent they have previously gone toe to toe with so many times.

More worrying still is that City host Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, needing points because of the very close proximity of Bournemouth and Chelsea behind them in the race for Champions League qualification.

The winner takes it all?

Carlo Ancelotti is aiming for glory again / James Gill - Danehouse/GettyImages

Carlo Ancelotti predicted ahead of the first leg that the winner of this tie will go on to lift the Champions League trophy in Munich come the end of May.

That has already been true in each of the last three seasons.

This was an earlier meeting than in previous years, so there is still much more football to play than had it been a quarter or semi-final encounter, as in the past. But the 15-time European champions will certainly be supremely confident now that they have eliminated one of their top rivals.

And those other remaining sides that have seen both Madrid's resolve to come back late in the first leg and their demolition job in the second leg have reason to be intimidated.