Disaster: For the first time in Guardiola’s career, his team crashes out before the Champions League last 16

On Wednesday, February 19, Manchester City traveled to face Real Madrid in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff round. The match turned into a nightmare for the reigning champions.

Details: City suffered a 3-1 defeat, losing 6-3 on aggregate to Real Madrid. According to OptaJoe, this marks the first time in Pep Guardiola’s managerial career that his team has failed to reach the Champions League round of 16. The 2024/25 campaign was the Spanish coach’s 16th season in the competition.

Notably, Kylian Mbappé became just the fourth player in Real Madrid’s history to score 3+ goals in the first round of the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. He also found the net against Manchester City in the first leg. The only other players to achieve this feat for Los Blancos were Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Brazilian Ronaldo.

By the way, Dailysports has prepared the schedule and results of all second-leg matches of the preliminary playoff round for you.

Reminder: Our team also covers the top 10 main contenders for the prestigious individual award as of February 17, 2024.