Mbappé Hat-Trick Sends Real Madrid Past Man City in Champions League Thriller

Madrid, 20 Feb: Kylian Mbappé delivered a stunning performance, netting a hat-trick to power Real Madrid past Manchester City and into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

Mbappé struck in the 4th, 33rd, and 61st minutes, securing a 3-1 victory for Madrid in the second leg and extending their aggregate lead to 6-3 over the defending champions. The Spanish giants proved too strong for Pep Guardiola’s side, who missed their key striker, Erling Haaland, due to a knee injury sustained in the English Premier League (EPL) match last weekend.

While Mbappé dominated the pitch, Haaland could only watch from the sidelines as Man City struggled to keep up with Madrid’s attacking intensity. Despite a spirited effort, City’s hopes of defending their title came to an abrupt end at the Santiago Bernabéu.

In other Champions League action, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) cruised past Brest with a dominant 7-0 win, wrapping up a 10-0 aggregate triumph to advance to the next round. The French champions will face either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, the clash between PSV Eindhoven and Juventus remained finely balanced, with the Dutch side leading 2-1 on the night, leveling the aggregate score at 3-3 and forcing extra time. U.S. international Timothy Weah found the net for Juventus in a tense encounter.

Earlier in the evening, Borussia Dortmund comfortably advanced to the next round after playing out a 0-0 draw with Sporting Lisbon, having already secured a 3-0 first-leg advantage. Sporting’s Champions League journey took a hit after their coach, Ruben Amorim, left for Manchester United in November.

With these results, Real Madrid, PSG, Dortmund, and PSV join Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge, and Feyenoord in the next stage as unseeded teams. The Champions League draw is set for Friday, with first-leg matches scheduled for March 4-5, 2025 and second-leg ties on March 11-12, 2025.

The new knockout format introduces a tennis-style seeded bracket, with the top eight teams from the 36-team group stage—including Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa—entering the round of 16 as seeded teams.

As the 11th-placed team, Real Madrid will face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, while top-seeded Liverpool will take on either PSG or Benfica.

With thrilling matches ahead, the Champions League knockout stage promises high-stakes drama as Europe’s top clubs battle for continental glory.

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