Madrid: Kylian Mbappé netted a hat trick, while Erling Haaland remained sidelined due to injury, as Real Madrid eliminated Manchester City from the Champions League. Mbappé's impressive goals in the fourth, 33rd, and 61st minutes secured a 3-1 victory, extending Madrid's aggregate lead to 6-3 over the reigning champions, according to the Spanish newspaper MARCA.
Haaland, unable to play for a struggling Manchester City due to a knee injury sustained in the English Premier League match last Saturday, watched from the bench.
In another match, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) triumphed over their French rivals Brest with a commanding 7-0 victory, achieving a 10-0 aggregate score, and will face either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16.
PSV Eindhoven and Juventus were on the brink of extra time, with PSV leading 2-1, leveling the aggregate score at 3-3, thanks to a goal from U.S. international Timothy Weah for Juventus.
Earlier, Borussia Dortmund maintained a 3-0 advantage at home against Sporting Lisbon, finishing with a 0-0 draw. Sporting's Champions League hopes faltered following the departure of coach Ruben Amorim to Manchester United in November.
Real Madrid, PSG, Dortmund, and PSV join Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge, and Feyenoord as playoff round winners, all unseeded teams in the upcoming draw scheduled for tomorrow, Friday. They will host the first-leg matches on March 4-5, 2025.
The top eight teams in the 36-team standings from three weeks ago—Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa—skipped the playoff round and are seeded in the round of 16 draw, hosting the second legs on March 11-12, 2025.
The round of 16 has adopted a new, tennis-style seeded bracket for the knockout phase in the expanded competition format. Madrid, positioned 11th in the standings and designated as the No. 11 seed, was already aware that its next opponent would be either Atletico or Leverkusen, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively. The top-seeded Liverpool is set to face either No. 15 PSG or No. 16 Benfica.
