Captain Bernardo Silva's first-half red card proved critical as Vinicius Junior's double helped perennial winners Real Madrid heap more Champions League misery on Manchester City by knocking Pep Guardiola's side out of the competition for the third consecutive season.
2025/2026 UEFA Champions League
1 (1)-2 (5)
Match Report:
City had a monumental task on their hands by aiming to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit at the last-16 stage and though they started on the front foot with bags of attacking impetus, Silva's first dismissal for City killed any hope of a remarkable comeback.
The Portuguese was stood on the goal-line when he leant into Vinicius shot with his arm, and after a lengthy check by the video assistant referee (VAR) and on-field official Clement Turpin reviewing the incident on the pitch-side monitor, Silva was shown a straight red and a penalty was awarded to the visitors.
Vinicius had seen a spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma last week, but the Brazil international made no mistake this time, sending the Italy number one the wrong way to silence an expectant Etihad crowd.
Real could have settled the tie in the opening minute when the Bernabeu's hat-trick hero Federico Valverde found himself through on goal, but was unable to get enough lift on a shot which dribbled through to Donnarumma.
City had opportunities to hit back in the tie but could not find a way past the towering Thibaut Courtois. Rayan Cherki shot straight at the Real goalkeeper, while Rodri's rising effort was pushed over and Erling Haaland's first-time effort was brilliantly kept out by the Belgian.
Haaland finally turned in a chance on the stroke of half-time to give City a glimmer of hope, but they could not stage an epic second-half revival as Vinicius added a second late in injury time.
Match Events:
0' Kickoff
20' Red Card! Bernardo Silva(Manchester City) is fouled off for intentional handball!
22' GOAL! Manchester City 0, Real Madrid 1. Vinicius Jr(Real Madrid) converts the penalty into a goal
41' GOAL! Manchester City 1, Real Madrid 1. Erling Haaland(Manchester City) left footed shot from close range, assisted by Doku
45+4' Yellow Card! Khusanov is shown the yellow card for a serious foul
45+5' Half time, Manchester City 1, Real Madrid 1
45' Substitution: Ake on, Reijnders off
56' Substitution: Marmoush on, Haaland off; Semenyo on, Matheus Nunes off
64' ❌No GOAL! Doku scores but offside first
69' Substitution: Mbappe on, Brahim Diaz off
74' Substitution: Nico Gonzalez on, Rodri off
74' Substitutions: Camavinga on, Guler off; Manuel Angel on, Thiago Pitarch off
76' Yellow Card! Mbappe is shown a yellow card
78' ❌No GOAL! Cherki passes and Ait-Nouri's header nets the goal, but offside first
80' Yellow Card! Trent Alexander-Arnold is shown a yellow card for bad foul
83' Substitution: Dani Carvajal on, Arnold off
83' ❌No GOAL! Valverde scored but Vinivius offside
90' ❌No GOAL! Vinicius scored but he is offside when he took the pass from Guler.
90+3' GOAL! Tchouameni assisted Vinicius who scored his second goal of the match!
Line-ups
Man City XI: Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Rodri, Haaland, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Cherki, Doku, Abdukodir Khusanov
Subs: Kovacic, Ake, Stones, Foden, Omar Marmoush, Guehi, Antoine Semenyo, Nico González, James Trafford, Lewis, Savinho, Nico O'Reilly
Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Rudiger, Alexander-Arnold, Valverde, Brahim, Fran García, Tchouameni, Vinicius, Güler, Dean Huijsen, Thiago Pitarch
Subs: Alaba, Carvajal, Mbappe, Lunin, Camavinga, Manuel Ángel, Álvaro Carreras, Gonzalo García, César Palacios, Franco Mastantuono, Jorge Cestero, Diego Aguado