What will hurt most of all is the inevitability. Manchester City are out of the Champions League – that was not unexpected after the first leg of this play-off – but what was shocking was just how little fight they put up.
They were killed by King Kylian in what was the first great night for him as Real Madrid’s No 9 as he claimed an accomplished hat-trick, his first in this stupendous stadium. City were simply unable to mount any response, to show any kind of defiance. In a game they had to win, they never looked like scoring until Nico Gonzalez tapped home from close range in added time when it was all over.
This is not what big teams do. This is not what is expected from a side coached by Pep Guardiola who, like his players, looked thoroughly beaten. Yes, they can lose, but not so meekly. Not without belief or giving it a go.
That will be what is most worrying. There is no shame in being knocked out by Real given their unmatched achievements in this competition and given the attacking armoury they possess. But not like this, not so pitifully.
Kylian Mbappe’s early first goal ended any hope of a comeback, with City – and they will regard this as a sign of how everything is conspiring against them – not able to field their star striker Erling Haaland who travelled but was not fit enough. He sat on the bench but did even not warm up.
Also among the substitutes was Kevin De Bruyne, and not turning to a player who has meant so much for City in their trophy-laden run under Guardiola shows where the 33-year-old stands and his own fitness struggles.
It was not a good evening for so many of City’s players and there were vignettes all over the pitch to highlight that: Josko Gvardiol being dumped on the turf by Mbappe and staring into the sky after the second goal, Ilkay Gundogan being too slow to even pull back Rodrygo’s shirt and then simply tripping him and getting booked, Phil Foden chasing around forlornly, unable to make any impact, and Ruben Dias panicking and passing the ball out of play for a corner.
The embarrassing exit – with “oles” from the home fans long before the end – also means City have failed to reach the last 16 for the first time under Guardiola, and the first time since 2013. It felt momentous. “Nothing is eternal,” Guardiola later said, and it was also the first time he had not made it at least that far as a coach.
The only downside for Real, amid their utter dominance, was a yellow card for Jude Bellingham which means he will be suspended for the first leg of their next tie, which is against either Atletico Madrid or Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen. Bellingham, like Mbappe, like Rodrygo, like Vinicius Junior, ran rings around City. They played at a different speed and with a different level of physicality, technical ability and understanding.
Just analyse the goals and analyse the context. After City lost the first leg 3-2 last week in Manchester, with yet another capitulation, Guardiola had put their chances at one per cent. Pre-match he had talked more confidently, he had joked that he had lied, he had said they needed to be bold and play the “almost perfect” game. How that was thrown back in his face.
There were less than four minutes on the clock when Raul Asencio played what looked like a fairly routine long ball between City’s centre-backs for Mbappe to chase. Dias, whose form has also collapsed, misjudged the flight, failed to head it and landed on the ground with Ederson – again – caught too far forward, but not far enough out to intercept, and not quick enough to get back. So Mbappe, with John Stones otherwise covering, waited for the ball to bounce and simply lobbed it over the stranded goalkeeper into the net. What a calamity.
Guardiola did not hide his annoyance as he spun on his heels. Who could blame him? City, aiming to become only the second team – after Erik ten Hag’s Ajax – to overcome a first-leg deficit and win at the Bernabeu, now needed two unanswered goals just to force extra time and as they digested that they lost Stones to yet another injury.
City had matched Real’s 4-4-2 shape – as Savinho joined Omar Marmoush up front – but that is where the similarity ended. They were chasing those famous white shirts throughout.
Unfortunately they did not chase them fast enough. Examine the second goal. Real carved through City’s defence with Bellingham, Vinicius and Rodrygo joining the France striker in its construction. There was a nutmeg along the way – through Abdukodir Khusanov’s legs from Rodrygo – as he found Mbappe who “sat down” Gvardiol and beat Ederson. The simple truth is Real just had too much, and quite how the holders, never mind City, were in this position of having to go through a play-off was remarkable.
Guardiola did not make another substitution until the 77th minute – why so late? – and by then Mbappe had scored a third. Again, it deserves scrutiny as there was no pressure on Real when they passed the ball around, allowing them to roll it into Mbappe’s feet. He was already on the edge of the penalty area, and unfortunately Foden stood off, so the Frenchman bent his shot around him and into the corner of the net. It felt that simple.
Such was their supremacy, it was now just a question of how many Real would score, although, surprisingly, it was City who claimed one – in the 91st minute through Gonzalez after Marmoush’s free-kick struck the crossbar. “We scored a goal,” sang the pocket of City fans in irony. It was no consolation as they lost for the 13th time in the past 26 games in all competitions. Before then, Mbappe was substituted to a deserved standing ovation. It felt like the evening when he arrived as a Real player. And when this City side departed.
