Real Madrid secured a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium, completing a 5-1 aggregate win to eliminate Manchester City from the UEFA Champions League for the fourth time in five seasons. The Spanish giants continued their dominance over City, knocking them out for the third consecutive year and showcasing their knack for peak performance in knockout stages, despite inconsistent form in La Liga.

Manchester City faced a daunting task of overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit, but their hopes were dashed early when captain Bernardo Silva received a red card for handball on his own goal line. Vinicius Junior converted the resulting penalty to open the scoring, effectively sealing the tie, and later added a second goal deep into stoppage time to secure the win.

Erling Haaland managed to equalize for City before halftime, but it proved insufficient as Real Madrid's defensive resilience and counterattacking threat prevailed. Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa praised his team's performance but cautioned that a likely quarterfinal against Bayern Munich would be very challenging. Meanwhile, City's Jeremy Doku expressed frustration with the defeat, questioning whether Madrid was truly superior over the two legs.

In other Champions League action, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Chelsea 3-0 to advance comfortably, while Arsenal overcame Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals. These results highlight the intense competition in this season's European club football, with traditional powerhouses asserting their strength.

Source: www.aljazeera.com