LONDON: Kylian Mbappe scored a hat trick, Erling Haaland stayed on the bench injured and Real Madrid swept Manchester City aside to qualify for the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.

Mbappe’s stellar trio of goals in the fourth, 33rd and 61st minutes in a statement 3-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu gave the European champions a 6-3 victory on aggregate over the 2023 champion in their two-leg knockout playoff.

“I said it [before], I didn’t come to Real Madrid to play badly,” Mbappe told Movi­star. “Making my dream come true is one thing, but I want to play well here, mark an era and make history at Real Madrid.”

Pep Guardiola’s 2023 winners City got a late consolation goal from Nico Gonzalez but suffered another painful defeat in a difficult season as Real turned on the style and showed why they have won the elite event a record 15 times.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will face either city rivals Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso, in the last 16, for which the draw will made on Friday.

“This has been the complete performance — attack, defense, with the ball and without the ball, we showed such high levels of quality,” Real Ancelotti said. “Almost the perfect night.”

For City, the focus will switch to simply securing a place in next season’s Champions League after a disastrous domestic campaign for a team that won the last four Premier League titles.

“It’s been our worst year... we’ve been an incredible team and this year, for many reasons, we have lost that consistency,” Guardiola told TNT Sport.

“After we conceded the goal in the first action we didn’t defend well, it was more and more difficult. We have to accept it, the best team won so congratulations to Real Madrid. It’s a fantastic team, they deserve to go through. We didn’t deserve it.”

Paris St Germain rubber-stamped their spot in the next round by thrashing French rivals Brest 7-0, to run up a 10-0 aggregate score, and will play either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16.

“It is pretty shameful to go out this way. To lose 7-0 is too much. Yes Paris are a great team and I hope they go all the way, but to lose 7-0 is unacceptable,” said Brest midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou.

PSV Eindhoven ousted Juventus in the only one of the eight playoffs this week that went to extra time. Defender Ryan Flamingo scored in the 98th minute for a 3-1 win on the night and 4-3 on aggregate. PSV take on Arsenal or the lone Italian team left, Inter Milan.

“Honestly, we slipped up,” Timothy Weah, who scored for Juventus, said. “I felt like they were more aggressive on the night and we lacked a bit of aggression and hunger.”

In the early game on Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund started with a 3-0 lead at home to Sporting Lisbon and was barely stretched in a 0-0 draw. Sporting’s Champions League campaign imploded after coach Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United in November. Dortmund’s reward is a last-16 tie against Aston Villa or Lille.

After two late goals last week swung the balance considerably in Madrid’s favour, City suffered another blow before kick-off in Spain with Haaland only considered fit enough to start on the bench.

Mbappe padded Real’s advantage with a fourth-minute lob, squeezing in between Ruben Dias and John Stones as he latched on to Raul Asencio’s long ball and lifted his effort over City goalkeeper Ederson.

The France striker rounded off a flowing team move with a sharp finish for Real’s second of the game, completing his hat-trick with a crisp left-footed shot from the edge of the area.

It didn’t hurt Real that January signing Gonzalez scored for City in stoppage time on the rebound of Omar Marmoush’s free-kick against the crossbar as Real prevailed like in last year’s semi-finals.

The lone real disappointment on the night for Real was a yellow card for Jude Bellingham that will rule the England midfielder out of the first leg of the last 16.

RECORD WIN

PSG have not lost anywhere since a Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich three months ago, and the playoff against Brest proved a total mismatch.

Brest had impressed in its first European season but went out with a whimper at Parc des Princes, after a 3-0 loss in the home leg.

Luis Enrique’s PSG survived an early scare from Mathias Pereira Lage before Bradley Barcola set them on course into the near left corner in the 20th minute.

January signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added the second from a tight left angle shortly before half-time before Vitinha, Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Ramos and Senny Mayulu completed the rout.

It was PSG’s record winning margin in a European game. They scored just three goals in their first five Champions League matches this season, but have found the net 21 times in five outings since then.

“I think we are showing that winning everything is possible,” Kvaratskhelia told Canal Plus. “We come into every game to win and of course that is our goal and our dream. We will put everything into that.”

UNCONVINCING DORTMUND

In Dortmund, Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva saved the well-placed but too weak spot kick from competition top scorer Serhou Guirassy in the 58th minute.

Giovanni Reyna hit the post and and Emre Can’s header into the net was nullified over a minimal offside position as Dortmund failed to break through against harmless visitors who rested their top scorers Viktor Gyökeres und Francisco Trincao.

“We didn’t do more than necessary. It was a controlled progression, I would say. Nevertheless, we have to learn to win games like this,” Can said.

With Amorim as coach, Sporting were unbeaten in four Champions League games and stood second in the 36-team standings. The team he left behind has gone winless in six Champions League games under two different coaches.

PSV EDGE JUVE

In Eindhoven, hosts PSV went 1-0 up in the 52nd when veteran Ivan Perisic took up Noa Lang’s diagonal pass and volleyed into the far left corner to level the tie.

Juve hit back from Weah’s low shot from a distance in the 63rd after PSV failed to clear a corner kick. The offside flag went up initially but the goal was given upon review.

Ismael Saibari drilled home from short range off Perisic’s cross in the 74th to force extra time, where Flamingo poked home the decisive third in a 98th-minute goalmouth scramble.

Juve’s exit means they join Milan and Atalanta in exiting the Champions League this week.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2025