Real Madrid Defeats Man City 3-1 (6-3 Aggregate): Key Highlights & Ancelotti's Prediction Nears Fulfillment

Real Madrid have secured their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League with an impressive 6-3 aggregate victory over Manchester City in the knockout play-off round.

Madrid sealed their fate at the Etihad Stadium a week prior, making a stunning comeback to claim a 3-2 win in Manchester, before finishing the job at home at the Bernabeu.

Kylian Mbappe was the star of the night, scoring a hat-trick to lead Madrid to victory. Mbappe opened the scoring early on, added a second before halftime, and completed his hat-trick with just over an hour played.

Despite a late consolation goal from Nico Gonzalez, Manchester City have been knocked out of the Champions League before the last 16 for the first time since 2012/13 when they failed to advance past the group stage.

Manchester City started strong, looking to level the score-line, but Mbappe's breakthrough goal extended Madrid's lead. Throughout the match, Madrid dominated, showcasing a level of confidence that City couldn't match.

With a two-goal cushion, Madrid continued to press forward, with Mbappe netting his second goal to extend the lead to three. A well-worked team move involving Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo set up Mbappe for his second goal of the night.

Madrid controlled the second half as well, creating multiple chances through Rodrygo and Valverde. Mbappe completed his hat-trick with a sublime finish, further solidifying Madrid's dominance.

City managed a late goal through Gonzalez but it was too little, too late. Madrid's victory was a testament to why they pursued Mbappe for so long, as he proved to be the difference-maker on the night.

While Mbappe shone for Madrid, Erling Haaland could only watch from the bench for Manchester City. Despite City missing their top scorer and facing early setbacks, including an injury to Stones, they couldn't muster a comeback.

Overall, the match highlighted Mbappe's brilliance and Madrid's superiority over City in a convincing win.

His withdrawal really seemed to knock the rest of the team, with Madrid turning the screw and City barely able to lay a glove on an opponent they have previously gone toe to toe with so many times.

More worrying still is that City host Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, needing points because of the very close proximity of Bournemouth and Chelsea behind them in the race for Champions League qualification.

Carlo Ancelotti predicted ahead of the first leg that the winner of this tie will go on to lift the Champions League trophy in Munich come the end of May.

That has already been true in each of the last three seasons.

This was an earlier meeting than in previous years, so there is still much more football to play than had it been a quarter or semi-final encounter, as in the past. But the 15-time European champions will certainly be supremely confident now that they have eliminated one of their top rivals.

And those other remaining sides that have seen both Madrid's resolve to come back late in the first leg and their demolition job in the second leg have reason to be intimidated.

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