File photo of Lionel Messi© AFP

Real Madrid swept Manchester City aside to qualify for the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, while Paris Saint-Germain rubber-stamped their spot in the next round by thrashing French rivals Brest. Kylian Mbappe struck twice in the first half before completing his hat-trick on the hour at the Santiago Bernabeu as the European champions won the return leg of the play-off tie 3-1 to complete a 6-3 aggregate victory. “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.”

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.

“The best team won, they deserve to be there and we don’t,” said City boss Pep Guardiola.

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

Mbappe padded Madrid’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 Madrid’s second of the game, completing his hat-trick with a crisp left-footed shot from the edge of the area. 

Nico Gonzalez netted a consolation in stoppage time for City after Omar Marmoush’s powerful free-kick came back off the crossbar.

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

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,” said Guardiola.

PSG demolished Brest 7-0 at the Parc des Princes as goals from seven different players propelled the in-form French champions to a 10-0 win over both legs.

Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the first half to eliminate any small doubts for the hosts, who showed no mercy with Vitinha, Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Ramos and Senny Mayulu also on target.

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.”

Luis Enrique’s men go on to a blockbuster clash with Liverpool or Barcelona, while Brest’s first-ever European campaign ended in sorry fashion against a club they have not beaten in 40 years. 

“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 knocked out Juventus 4-3 on aggregate after extra time, overturning a first-leg deficit with a 3-1 win in the Netherlands.

Timothy Weah cancelled out Ivan Perisic‘s opener for PSV, but the hosts forced an additional 30 minutes with a goal from Ismael Saibari.

Defender Ryan Flamingo turned in from close range in the 98th minute to send PSV through at the expense of Thiago Motta‘s Juventus, with Arsenal or Inter Milan awaiting the Dutch side next month.

Borussia Dortmund progressed after a goalless draw at home to Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon sealed a 3-0 overall victory.

The competition’s leading scorer Serhou Guirassy missed a second-half penalty but it mattered for nothing in the end as last season’s runners-up were rarely troubled by Sporting.

Dortmund’s reward is a last-16 tie against Aston Villa or Lille. 

Real Madrid vs Manchester City Live Streaming, Champions League Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch© AFP

Bayern Munich needed a stoppage-time goal to see off Celtic and secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday, while AC Milan were dumped out by Feyenoord and both Club Brugge and Benfica also advanced. In Germany, Bayern were defending a 2-1 lead over Celtic in their play-off tie from last week’s first leg but the Bundesliga leaders were unable to put the tie to bed, with Harry Kane hitting the bar before half-time.

Instead it was Celtic who went ahead on the night on 63 minutes thanks to Nicolas Kuehn, the former Bayern player, who slotted low into the net after a failed attempt to win the ball by Kim Min-jae.

That meant the tie was heading for extra time, but Bayern ultimately would not need to go that far as they scored in the fourth minute of injury time.

Alphonso Davies bundled the ball in from close range to make the score 1-1 on the night and clinch the tie for six-time European champions Bayern 3-2 on aggregate.

Vincent Kompany‘s team will find out their last-16 opponents when the draw is made on Friday, but it will be either German rivals Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid.

“Of course, we always want to dominate and be much better than the opponent, especially here. But the result is always the most important thing,” Kompany told UEFA.com

It was a heartbreaking way for Celtic to go out but the Scottish champions will take heart from their performance over the two legs.

“It never looked like we were going to concede the goal that we did and sadly for us, we did. I can only take immense pride from the performance and the guys gave everything,” said Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.

Earlier, seven-time European Cup winners Milan were eliminated by Feyenoord, a 1-1 draw at San Siro taking the Dutch club through 2-1 on aggregate.

Santiago Gimenez, playing against the club he left just last month, had put Milan ahead on the night from close range in the first minute to level the tie on aggregate.

However, Milan had Theo Hernandez sent off early in the second half for a second booking, and Feyenoord levelled on the night through Julian Carranza on 73 minutes.

The visitors had Givairo Read shown a red card at the end of the game after they had held on to win the tie.

They could now come back to San Siro in the next round, with Inter Milan and Arsenal their two possible opponents.

Benfica and Club Brugge through

In Lisbon, Benfica drew 3-3 at home with Monaco to win their play-off tie 4-3 on aggregate and go through to play either Barcelona or Liverpool next.

Having won 1-0 in Monaco last week, the Portuguese giants extended their aggregate lead when Kerem Akturkoglu opened the scoring on the night midway through the first half.

Monaco came roaring back with Takumi Minamino and Eliesse Ben Seghir netting either side of half-time to level the tie on aggregate.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored a penalty, his seventh goal in his last six Champions League games, to make it 2-2 on the night, only for substitute George Ilenikhena to hit back for Monaco.

However, the tie swung decisively back towards Benfica as Orkun Kokcu made it 3-3 on the night on 84 minutes.

“It was a tough night, we knew Monaco would put pressure on us from the start and we felt it, we didn’t play our best game,” Kokcu told broadcaster SportTV.

“Still, we’re happy to have progressed to the last 16. I’m happy to have contributed to the result.”

Teenage starlet Chemsdine Talbi scored twice as Club Brugge claimed a 3-1 victory away to Atalanta in Italy to win their tie 5-2 on aggregate.

Talbi’s brace was followed by a superb Ferran Jutgla strike as the Belgians built on their 2-1 win at home in last week’s first leg and advanced to a last 16 tie against either Lille or Aston Villa.

Atalanta had 29 attempts on goal but were punished on the break by the Belgians and Ademola Lookman’s reply at the start of the second half was scant consolation.

Lookman also had a penalty saved while Atalanta captain Rafael Toloi was sent off late on, as last season’s Europa League winners bowed out.

The remaining play-off second legs will take place on Wednesday, with the standout fixture seeing Real Madrid defend a 3-2 first-leg lead at home to Manchester City.

Jude Bellingham edged Real Madrid ahead in their Champions League play-off against Manchester City, but then his week swiftly took a turn for the worse. The England international was sent off in the first half as Los Blancos dropped two points in the Spanish title race on Saturday at Osasuna. The midfielder will at least be fresh for the second leg clash with City at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, with Madrid holding a 3-2 lead in the tie after their victory at the Etihad Stadium last week.

Bellingham felt he had let his side down with his dismissal for dissent, despite insisting the referee misunderstood him, and he apologised to his team-mates.

All will be forgiven if he helps pull Madrid past Pep Guardiola’s City and into the last 16. 

“Enough said about the misunderstanding, just wanted to apologise again for leaving my team-mates in such a tough position and thank the fans for their support and understanding,” wrote Bellingham on social media.

“We’ll see each other on Wednesday, (playing) at home.”

It was his second red card for arguing with referees since arriving in Spain from Borussia Dortmund in 2023.

Despite his occasional frustration with officials, Bellingham has mostly been able to enjoy himself in Spain. 

His goals were crucial as Madrid won La Liga last season, and he helped his side claim their record-extending 15th Champions League trophy at Wembley, against his former side Dortmund.

Bellingham was previously linked with City but on arrival at Madrid said once the Spanish giants came in for him he got “goosebumps” and that his heart nearly stopped.

“I’d always been aware of the interest from England so that was pretty normal,” he said after joining.

“Money is not a thing for me. I don’t think about money at all when I make these kind of decisions. I never have and will — I play the game purely out of love…

“It wasn’t a case of other teams are bad or they weren’t good but, for me, Madrid is the greatest.”

Big game Bellingham

In his fairytale first season Bellingham scored 23 goals in 43 games across all competitions, as well as converting a penalty in the Champions League quarter-final shootout Madrid won against City.

Bellingham has often shone in Madrid’s key matches.

The 21-year-old scored vital goals in both league Clasicos last season, and in both games against Girona, who for most of the season were Madrid’s main title contenders.

In the Champions League he set up Vinicius for a goal in the final against Dortmund, as well as scoring four times in the group stage.

This season, operating in a slightly more withdrawn role following the arrival of French superstar Kylian Mbappe, he initially found it harder to find his spark in attack.

Bellingham failed to find the net in his first 12 games, having netted double figures by the same time last season.

However coach Carlo Ancelotti backed the midfielder to come good and praised his hard work in a defensive capacity.

Eventually Bellingham’s nose for goal returned and he has scored 10 times in his last 20 games, as well as providing six assists.

The most recent of those strikes came in the 92nd minute against City to snatch Madrid the advantage.

The days since have been tumultuous but by the time the Champions League anthem is ringing out at the Bernabeu, Bellingham’s mind will be focused on getting the job done.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his side have just a one percent chance of progress to the Champions League last 16 against Real Madrid on Wednesday but the English champions’ new recruits could offer a lifeline. City blew a late 2-1 lead in the first leg of the play-off tie last week at home to lose 3-2 to the holders. That collapse was part of a wider trend this season as Guardiola’s ageing squad have struggled to last the pace, particularly when the intensity is turned up on Champions League nights.

As a consequence, City broke with their usual transfer policy to spend big in January, bringing in Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez for fees totalling 170 million pounds ($214 million).

However, none of them started the first leg against Madrid. Marmoush was the only one to even make an appearance for the final few minutes off the bench, as Gonzalez and Khusanov were unused substitutes and Reis was not registered in City’s European squad.

Guardiola may now regret that decision after Marmoush, Gonzalez and Khusanov all played pivotal roles in arguably City’s best performance of the season on Saturday when Newcastle were blown away 4-0 at the Etihad.

Marmoush hogged the headlines thanks to his first-half hat-trick, finally offering City another potent scoring threat to compliment Erling Haaland.

Khusanov recovered from his nightmare Premier League debut against Chelsea last month when he gave away a goal inside three minutes and could have been sent-off shortly afterwards.

This time the Uzbek showed why City paid Lens a reported 40 million euros (33 million pounds, $42 million) for his services.

The 20-year-old’s pace helped sniff out the danger posed by Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and could be what the visitors need to combat the threat of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo in the Santiago Bernabeu.

Guardiola, though, reserved special praise for the impact of Gonzalez in bringing the City midfield the stability they have lacked since Ballon d’Or winner Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September.

The Barcelona academy graduate seems certain to start on his return to Spain with his manager already hailing the 23-year-old as a “mini Rodri.”

Gonzalez a game changer

“The balance of the team looks much, much better already with Gonzalez in it,” said former City defender Micah Richards.

“City have got players who can score goals and hurt Real, but he brings some stability behind them, which they will need if they are to manage the game in Madrid.

“Do they have more chance of beating Real with him in the starting 11? Without a doubt.”

Yet, even at their best during the golden years of Guardiola’s reign in Manchester, City have often found the might of Madrid too tough a nut to crack in the Champions League.

This is the fourth consecutive season the sides have met, with a 5-1 aggregate rout en route to winning the competition for the first time in 2023 City’s only success.

Three years ago they seemed to be cruising into the Paris final with a two-goal lead heading into stoppage time of the second leg before Rodrygo’s quickfire double sent the tie to extra-time and ultimately Madrid to a 14th European crown.

Last year it was penalties that got the Spanish giants over the line after City dominated the majority of two score draws in the quarter-finals.

Guardiola conceded the prospect of his side finding their best again when they need it most is unlikely.

“This season the reality is we have been miles, miles away. If you tell me that we would perform like today (against Newcastle) and finish 22nd in the Champions League (table), of course not. We would finish higher,” said the former Barcelona boss.

“The results have been poor this season. Just for one game I’m not going to change my opinion.

“If you ask anybody before that game, we have one percent but as much as we have a chance we will try. That’s for sure.”

However, a timely injection of fresh blood does give hope that a miracle in Madrid is possible.

File image of Inter Miami star Lionel Messi© AFP

Neymar in action for Santos© AFP

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