City downed by late Madrid double | OneFootball

City face a tough task to progress in the Champions League after losing the first play-off leg 3-2 to Real Madrid.

Erling Haaland twice put the Blues ahead in a thrilling encounter, but the Spanish side hit back each time, before snatching victory with almost the final kick of the game.

It leaves City needing to win by at least a goal in the second leg just to level the aggregate scores after a heart-breaking final seven minutes.

WHAT HAPPENED…

This was a game that fairly fizzled and cracked from the word go.

Real Madrid, with the stellar front trio of Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr looking mobile and dangerous – City, with Savinho, Jack Grealish and Haaland looking fluid and threatening.

It was the visitors, decked out in their all-tangerine strip, who asked the first questions – several in quick succession, in fact.

First Ederson saved well from Mbappe on 11 minutes and then, when Ferland Mendy looked certain to score, Nathan Ake produced a heroic block to keep the scores level.

Then Vinicius Jr broke clear only for a last ditch Ake tackle to once again deny the visitors.

Three very good chances in the space of three frantic minutes – it felt the Blues’ resolve could only withstand such intense pressure for so long.

It wasn’t as though City were completely on the ropes, with several  promising attacks thwarted and some nice build-up play.

And it was from one such attack that the deadlock was broken.

With 19 minutes on the clock, Grealish lofted a superb pass into the path of Josko Gvardiol who chested a pass to Haaland and the Norwegian coolly side-footed a shot over Thibaut Courtois to give City the lead.

A lengthy VAR check followed for a possible offside, but replays proved the Norwegian had been fractionally onside.

While Madrid occasionally probed forward with menace, it was the Blues who had tne next two best chances, with Foden – a replacement for the injured Grealish – firing a fierce angled shot  towards the top corned from 20 yards that Courtois clawed away.

Then Manu Akanji’s flocked header from a Kevin De Bruyne corner struck the top of the crossbar two minutes later.

Mbappe was presented with a golden chance to level in first half added time, but he skied his shot over the bar from 12 yards.

Rico Lewis replaced Akanji at the start of the second half, with the Swiss picking up a knock blocking a Vinicius Jr shot just before the break.

City started on the front foot immediately after the restart, with Haaland seeing a deflected shot hit the top of the bar inside the first 45 seconds.

But Madrid continued to cause problems and Ederson was forced to deny Mbappe from close range again on 55 minutes.

It was nerve-jangling stuff at the best of times, but finally, the visitors did beat the City keeper and there was more than a sprinkling of good fortune when a Madrid free-kick was blocked on the edge of the box, Dani Ceballos looped a ball back into the box and Mbappe’s mis-hit volley sailed into the net to make it 1-1.

Little of note happened at either end happened until the 77th minute.

Foden skipped into the box before being felled by a heavy challenge by Cabellos leaving the ref the easy job of pointing to the penalty spot.

Haaland sent Courtois the wrong way to put the Blues 2-1 up and send Etihad wild in the process.

Of course, it wasn't over and as City tried to see the game out, Madrid poured forward and when Vinicius Jr fired in a shot after a poor clearance, Brahim Diaz was on hand to level the scores.

Worse was to follow as Vinicius Jr nipped in ahead of Lewis with seconds remaining and as Ederson raced out, the Brazilian's lob was turned in by the otherwise quiet Jude Bellingham to secure a 3-2 win.

star man

John Stones was imperious throughout, slotting into midfield and bossing proceedings for large periods of the game.

He was forced back into defence in the second-half and was no less impressive.

A pity he had to end on the losing side.

LINE-UPS

CITY XI: Ederson, Akanji (Lewis 46), Dias, Ake, Gvardiol, Stones, De Bruyne (Gundogan 84), Bernardo, Savinho (Marmoush 84), Grealish (Foden 30), Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Doku, Nico, Nunes, Khusanov, O’Reilly, McAtee

Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Tchouameni, Asencio, Mendy, Camavinga, Ceballos Modric 79), Bellingham, Rodrygo (Brahim 84), Vinicius Jr, Mbappé (Garcia 90+2)

Subs: Lunin,  Arda Guler, Endrick, Vallejo,, Gonzalo, Jacobo Ramon, Chema, Lorenzo Aguado

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Clément Turpin  Assistant Referees: Nicolas Danos, Benjamin Pages VAR: Jerome Brisard Fourth Official: Mathieu Vernice Assistant VAR: Willy Delajod

PEP REACTION

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WHAT IT MEANS…

City are down but certainly not out.

A victory by two goals in next Wednesday's second leg will see us progress into the Round of 16.

A one-goal win would mean extra time and possibly penalties - anything other than a victory and the Blues will be out of this season's Champions League.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Kick-off is 20:00 (UK), with the second leg a week on Wednesday in Madrid.

City return to Premier League action at the weekend, with  in-form Newcastle United the visitors at the Etihad..

Eddie Howe’s side, with a Carabao Cup final against Liverpool to look forward to, are level on points with the Blues and have the same goal difference in what will be a crucial game in the battle for Champions League places.

Kick-off against the Magpies is 15:00 on 15 February and will not be screened live in the UK, so follow our live match updates throughout in our Matchday Centre from 13:00.