Game is over and the final score is Man City 2-0 Galatasaray. Here is the match report.
2025/2026 UEFA Champions League
2-0
Match Report
Manchester City secured their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Galatasaray at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki got the goals in the first half, and City secured eighth place in the table, with a little help from Benfica's dramatic 4-2 win over Real Madrid.
With just three minutes on the clock, Rayan Ait-Nouri picked out the unmarked Haaland on the right of the box, but he planted his free header wide of the left post.
Seven minutes later, he made up for that miss, though, latching onto Jeremy Doku's throughball to lift a lovely chip over Ururcan Cakir and into the empty net.
Nico O'Reilly then stung the palms of the goalkeeper before Cherki doubled their advantage, meeting Doku's centre to pick out the bottom-left corner in the 29th minute.
Phil Foden – on for the injured Doku – could have added a third, but blazed his shot over the bar under no pressure on the stroke of half-time.
Galatasaray upped the pressure without causing too many problems, though Gianluigi Donnarumma had to make a sprawling save to deny Victor Osimhen before Cakir thwarted Omar Marmoush with a fine stop at the other end.
Davinson Sanchez then saw a late strike swerve straight into Donnarumma's gloves, but Galatasaray did clinch a play-off place and will face either Juventus or Atletico Madrid for a place in the last 16.
Top eight secured
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 28, 2026
We progress straight into the #UCL round of 16 pic.twitter.com/ZEv96ymIR8
Data Debrief: Guardiola hits another landmark
Last season, City missed out on a place in the knockout stage proper after a play-off defeat to Madrid, but they have avoided that fate this time.
And it was through a landmark victory for Pep Guardiola, who, in his 569th game in charge of City, claimed his 400th win. It is the fewest games taken to reach that total by a manager in England's top flight.
And Haaland, who got his first goal from open play since December, netted his 56th Champions League goal, going level with Ruud van Nistelrooy in the all-time charts; only seven players have scored more in the competition's history.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, head into the play-offs having gone winless in their last four games in Europe (D1 L3). They struggled in attack, accumulating just 0.22 expected goals (xG) despite getting all four of their shots on target. City, in contrast, finished with 1.64 xG.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
3' Haaland with a free header from a Ait-Nouri cross，he sends it wide of the post
10' Doku with the through ball. Haaland IN-BEHIND! Man City 1-0 Galatasaray
24' O'Reilly with a powerful left-footed effort from the edge of the penalty area
29' Great teamwork and Rayan Cherki finishes it! Man City 2-0 Galatasaray
36' Sub: Foden replaces Doku (injured)
39' Match Event for Man City vs Galatasaray
45' Foden fires the ball to sky
55' Donnarumma saves Osimhen's header
62' Marmoushi misses the great chance
64' Donnarumma stopped Osimhen again
64' Nouri's shot wide out from very close range
73' A lengthy stoppage in play following a collision between Reijnders and Sanchez
79' Haaland misses the chance
90' Match Event for Man City vs Galatasaray
93' Match Event for Man City vs Galatasaray
Line-ups
Man City XI: Ake, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Matheus Nunes, Cherki, Doku, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov
Subs: Bettinelli, Foden, Reijnders, Nico González, James Trafford, Lewis, Max Alleyne, Charlie Gray, Stephen Mfuni, Divine Mukasa
Galatasaray XI: Gundogan, Lemina, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Sane, Sanchez, Roland Sallai, Uğurcan Çakır, Osimhen, Ismail Jakobs, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Gabriel Sara
Subs: Günay Güvenç, Kaan Ayhan, Icardi, Torreira, Akgun, Sen, Ahmed Kutucu, Singo, Eren Elmalı, Furkan Koçak, Yusuf Kahraman, Eyüp Can Karasu