Real Madrid thrashes Manchester City in dramatic Club World Cup triumph!
Vinicius Junior's penalty fired Real Madrid towards the Champions League quarter-finals (Paul ELLIS) Real Madrid dumped 10-man Manchester City out of the Champions League for the fourth time in five seasons as a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium completed a 5-1 aggregate victory for the Spanish giants. City had to make history in overturning a 3-0 first leg deficit against the 15-time European champions, but a difficult task became an impossible one when captain Bernardo Silva was shown an early red card for handling the ball on his own line. Vinicius Junior converted from the spot to kill the tie as a contest as City exited to Madrid for the third consecutive year.
Erling Haaland levelled for City before half-time, but Vinicius won the game with virtually the final kick off the ball. City's season is at risk of coming off the rails. Winless in three games, Pep Guardiola's men must raise themselves for the League Cup final against Arsenal on Sunday.
They also trail the Gunners by nine points in the Premier League title race and host Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals next month. Once again City's quest for Champions League glory came unstuck as Madrid proved they have the knack for finding their best come the knockout stages of this competition, despite unconvincing form in La Liga. Alvaro Arbeloa could afford to leave Kylian Mbappe on the bench on his return from injury, while Jude Bellingham could also be back fit by the time they face a likely quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
City needed a fast start to have any chance of becoming the first side to ever overturn a three-goal deficit against Madrid in European competition, but nearly found themselves further behind inside a minute. Federico Valverde was the unlikely Real hero last week with the first hat-trick of his career. The Uruguayan had an easier chance than for any of his three goals at the Santiago Bernabeu seven days ago, but fired meekly into the arms of Gianluigi Donnarumma after his run from midfield went untracked.
- Haaland subbed - City did briefly threaten to bring the tie to life but came up against a familiar foe in Thibaut Courtois. The giant Belgian goalkeeper repelled efforts from Rayan Cherki and Rodri before Madrid's threat on the counter-attack killed off any lingering City hopes. Vinicius had initially been flagged offside in the build up before his effort was turned wide by Silva's left arm.