English Premier League giants, Manchester City, have been knocked out of the Uefa Champions League 2025/26 by Spanish La Liga giants, Real Madrid, on Tuesday night in England.
Real Madrid discomfited Manchester City 2-1 in the round of 16 second leg match on Tuesday 17 March, 2026 at Etihad Stadium in Manchester with Brazilian winger, Vinicius Junior, scoring twice for the visitors.
With a 5-1 aggregate triumph, Real Madrid have clinched their ticket to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola was “focused” on coming from a three-goal loss in Spain as he headed into the match, but, his side quickly got reduced to ten (10) men after Portugal International, Bernardo Silva, bagged a red card in the first half for a handball.
After handling the ball in the area, a penalty kick was awarded the Los Blancos which Vinicius perfectly converted in the 22nd minute to open the scoring for Madrid.
Real Madrid goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, was forced to make series of impressive saves in the early stages of the game.
Vinicius’ penalty which went past City goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, squashed any hopes of the hosts making a comeback, but, the Cityzens pulled one back in the 41st minute through Erling Haaland.
In the 3rd minute of additional time, Vinicius converted Aurelien Tchouameni’s assist to seal the win for Alvaro Arbeloa’s side.
The Brazil international’s brace helped him cart the Player Of The Match (POYM) award.
This is now the second time in a row that Guardiola has failed to help Manchester City reach the quarter-final stage of the Uefa Champions League.
In his post-victory comments to Amazon Prime, brace scorer, Vinicius said: “The last time I came to Man City, they were making fun of me and saying I was crying because of the Ballon d’Or.
“It was a way of proving myself to the Man City fans.”
Results:
| Uefa Champions League 2025/26 (Round of 16 second leg) – Tuesday 17 March, 2026 |
| Sporting CP 5-0 Bodoe/Glimt (Agg 5-3) |
| Arsenal 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen (Agg 3-1) |
| Chelsea 0-3 PSG (Agg 2-8) |
| Manchester City 1-3 Real Madrid (Agg 1-5) |
Photo: Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring for Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League 2025/26 knockout match against Manchester City on Tuesday in England
