JAKARTA - Real Madrid qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals after eliminating Manchester City. In the second big match of the 16-year-old round at the Etihad Stadium, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 WIB, Madrid won 2-1 through Vinicius Junior's brace over Man City who played with 10 players since minute 22.
Madrid showed their strength by beating Man City for the second time in a row. In the first meeting, the Spanish LaLiga giant won 3-0 with a hat-trick from captain Federico Valverde.
This victory at home was very good for Madrid when visiting Man City's home in the second match. Moreover, the team coached by Alvaro Arbeola successfully beat Elche 4-1 in a LaLiga match. This makes Madrid more confident to complete the mission to the quarter finals.
Even though it was tight, Madrid was finally able to overcome the Cityzens' resistance. Especially after captain Bernardo Silva got a red card in the 20th minute. Madrid won 2-1 through Vinicius Jr's brace. They also had a 5-1 aggregate lead and qualified for the quarter finals to meet Bayern Munich or Atalanta.
Meanwhile, Man City became the superior team who had to be eliminated in the early knockout round. Ironically, Pep Guardiola's team was eliminated by Madrid who had to play a playoff before qualifying for the last 16.
In the big match, Man City actually gave a tight fight. The match was interesting and entertaining because it featured two elite teams that were both attacking. Man City had created opportunities through Rodri and Rayan Cherki. Only their attacks could be thwarted by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Furthermore, Madrid carried out an attack that became the final determinant of the match. Starting from Vinicus Jr's kick towards the goal that was not saved by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. But there is still Silva who blocks the ball before passing the line. Only this Portugal national team midfielder seems to move his arm to stop the ball's pace in the 20th minute.
The referee reviewed the incident via VAR. The referee reviewed it for quite some time and the result was that Sila was judged to have committed a foul by deliberately moving his arm so that he got a red card. Not only that, the referee also pointed to the white spot. Vinicius Jr perfectly completed the execution.
The goal in the 22nd minute gave Madrid a 1-0 lead. Man City responded with an attacking game to equalize the score. Moreover, the goal made it more difficult for the hosts to turn things around. Only Man City playing with 10 people had difficulty facing the tight defense of Los Blancos.
However, Man City's efforts finally bore fruit before halftime. Striker Erling Haaland successfully overcame the deadlock after welcoming Jeremy Doku's cross in the 41st minute.
It started with an attack built by Doku which indeed troubled Madrid's defense. He showed an action by passing Thiago Pitarch and then delivering a cross to the goal. Defender Trent Alexander-Arnold actually tried to anticipate the ball but failed and fell at the feet of Haaland who converted it into a goal. The score was tied 1-1 and lasted until the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, Arbeloa made a surprise by pulling out goalkeeper Courtois. His position was replaced by Andriy Lunin who stood under the crossbar. Meanwhile, Guardiola brought in Marc Guehi and Nathan Ake to revive Man City's game.
The strategy did work quite batik because Man City, who are in second place in the English Premier League standings, looked dominant. It's just that their attacks didn't bear fruit.
At least, Haaland created two chances that should have turned the tide. But his efforts could be thwarted by Lunin. Likewise, Rodri and Rayan Cherki got the chance to break into the Madrid goal. It's just that their efforts didn't bear fruit.
Arbeloa then made another change by bringing in Kylian Mbappe to replace Brahim Diaz in the 69th minute. The captain of the French national team has been absent for several matches due to a knee injury. Only Mbappe has less impact on the team and makes the match more of a warm-up after a long time not playing.
However, he was hit by Rayan Ait-Nouri by pulling Mbappe's jersey. However, there was no violation of the incident. Furthermore, Madrid managed to regain the lead through Valverde's goal. However, the goal was annulled. Likewise, Man City's goal scored by Doku was not ratified.
When the match entered injury time and the score was still tied, Vinicius Jr broke the deadlock again. He first broke Donnarumma's goal in the 90th minute. However, the goal was annulled because he was in an offside position after being reviewed by VAR.
Just a minute later, Vinicius Jr did not make a mistake when receiving a cross from midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. He finished the opportunity to change the score to 2-1. Madrid also won the match and qualified for the next round.
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