Hello and welcome along to FourFourTwo's live coverage of a blockbuster clash in the Champions League. It's the second leg of the play-off tie between the past two winners of the competition, Real Madrid and Manchester City.
The first leg last week was a classic, with City blowing a 2-1 lead with five minutes remaining and Madrid punishing them to win 3-2 and take a one-goal aggregate lead into tonight's game at their home of the Bernabéu.
The stage is set for another thriller, and we'll have it all covered right here, with live updates from the build-up and the game itself, along with all the information you could possibly want on how to watch.
WATCHING REAL MADRID VS MANCHESTER CITY: THE ESSENTIALS
- Date: Wednesday, February 19
- Kick-off time: 8pm GMT / 3pm ET
- FREE Stream: RTÉ (Ireland)
- TV & Streaming: TNT Sports, Discovery+ (UK) | CBS Golazo, Paramount+ (US) | DAZN (Canada, New Zealand) | Stan Sport (Australia)
- 📺 Our FULL GUIDE to Real Madrid vs Man City live streams
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FULL TIME RESULT
Real Madrid 3-1 Man City
6-3 on aggregate
Thanks for joining us today. Keep your eyes on FourFourTwo for the latest news and features.
FULL TIME
That's that. A late goal from City but the game and the tie were already long gone. The goal in truth flatters City, who were totally outplayed by a Madrid side who were all at it tonight, to a man. Kylian Mbappé will take the headlines - his fine hattrick killed City and settled the game. After last week's thriller, it was a more one-sided affair tonight. Madrid have their sparkle back and progress to the last-16 knockouts. City are out, after a chastening evening in the Spanish capital.
After a VAR check.... the goal stands.
GOAL!
Nico Gonzalez (90+1)
City have a consolation goal. It's another free-kick in a dangerous area and this time Marmoush gets a better effort off, sending it crashing off the crossbar. It comes down off Courtois and Gonzalez is there to tap it in.
More Madrid subs as Alaba and Endrick enter the field, with Vini Jr and Valverde making way. That's 90 minutes on the clock and we have two added on - not many considering the number of subs but the tie is well over.
James McAtee takes a stray Brahim Díaz elbow to the head and City have a free-kick on the edge of the box but Marmoush sends it into the wall.
Into the final five minutes and City have a sustained period of possession.
The game seemed in danger of fizzling out with those subs, but Rodrygo suddenly finds himself with space in the box. Straight at the keeper - he could/should have scored. Another lovely Madrid move, working the ball down the right and then across to Rodrygo on the left via Bellingham on the edge of the box.
Another Madrid substitution
Tchouaméni is brought off, with Luka Modric on in his place.
Double substitution for Real Madrid
The hattrick hero Mbappé is removed, along with Dani Ceballos. Brahim Díaz and Eduardo Camavinga are on in their place.
City muster something
Phil Foden cracks another long-ranger and gets it on target this time. Moments later the City man dances through and shifts it off to Savinho, who can't finish. Bernardo Silva then picks up the ball on the right-hand corner of the box and looks for that familiar top-left corner but goes high and wide.
Another chance for Vini, who has a shot parried from the left-hand side of the box. This could get ugly for City.
Madrid could be 5-0 up. Mbappé turns provider, laying on two chances for Vinicius Jr. The first he's crowded out on the slide, the second he lashes high and wide.
The olé's have started already from the Madrid fans.
Phil Foden blazes a long-range shot way over the bar. City are short of ideas out there. Madrid's defenders are celebrating tackles, whenever they are called into action. The home side have been bang up for it tonight.
3 goals for that man
Half an hour to go and City need four just to take us to extra time. It's all over already, really. City are heading out of the Champions League before the knockout phase. Their torrid season goes from bad to worse.
GOAL!
Kylian Mbappé (61st minute)
There's the hattrick. City were probing for once but Madrid go down the other end and bury the tie. This time Mbappé takes up a position on the right-hand corner of the penalty box. He gets the ball, shifts it onto his left foot and drives it low past Ederson into the bottom left corner. Another great finish - a great hattrick from the Frenchman.
City probe on the edge of the Madrid box but can't work a decent scoring opportunity.
Close!
Madrid put together another neat move and Mbappé almost has a hattrick. Valverde sends a great ball in from the right and Mbappé slides in but Ederson makes a good save.
City are already under pressure as Madrid start the second half as they finished the first - on the front foot.
Second half
We're back underway at the Bernabeu. Can City mount an incredible fightback?
HALF TIME
The game settles down and drifts to the 45-minute mark. The referee blows his whistle and Madrid trot off down the tunnel having made a dream start to this game. For City, it's been a nightmare - they've been outplayed and find themselves two goals behind on the night and three behind on aggregate. They're as good as out of the Champions League.
Yellow card
Jude Bellingham goes into the book for a late challenge. The Madrid midfielder was sent off on Saturday against Osasuna.
Hard to see how Man City recover from this... they need to score three. At the moment they're not getting near the Madrid box.
GOAL!
Mbappé (33 mins)
Madrid double their lead on the night. They lead 5-2 on aggregate and that might just seal the tie. It's a brilliant Madrid move, who work it down the right and then into a central position with Rodrygo. The Brazilian shuffles a neat little flick into the path of Mbappé on his left, who could shoot with his left but cuts inside with a wonderful touch of composure and slots past Ederson at the near post. Another great goal.
Guardiola is furious - Phil Foden takes a Ferland Mendy shoulder to the chest after getting to the ball first, but the referee fails to call a foul. He's got a point.
Mbappé is through again - another bouncing ball through, another time Ruben Dias is second to it. The Frenchman makes a good connection with a more powerful effort this time, but it's straight at the keeper.
Yellow card
Ilkay Gundogan is the first player into the book. The City midfielder loses possession, tries to make amends, but takes Rodrygo out.
Mbappé has the ball on the left and almost squeezes a ball through to the back post. Danger averted for City but it's all Madrid right now.
City can't get out anymore. Bellingham dances down the left-hand side and into the box. Another corner.
City manage to get forward, but it's soon back down the other end and Mbappé goes close again with a deflected shot. Another flick-on from a corner causes problems and now Madrid start to settle into a dominant spell. Mbappé gets another shot away, another corner. Pressure is building.
It's nearly 2...
Bellingham flicks on a corner at the near post and it loops dangerously close to Ederson's back post.
This was Mbappé's strike. The France forward brushed off the back-pedalling Ruben Dias, who was too easily outmuscled, before getting to the ball ahead of Stones. The bouncing ball was sent looping with a composed, cushioned stroke of the instep. Ederson was caught between coming and going and was punished by a smart and expertly-taken finish from Mbappé.
City face a mountain now to get back into this tie, and things get worse as John Stones goes down under a challenge from Vini Jr and has to depart the field of play. Nathan Ake is his replacement.
GOAL!
Real Madrid take the lead
Not even 4 minutes on the clock and already Madrid are ahead and City trail by two goals on aggregate. It's a long ball from right back, City's defenders don't deal with it and Kylian Mbappé races on to it, before lifting the ball on the bounce over the goalkeeper Ederson, who's in no-man's land on his penalty spot. Great finish.
City look confident in these early minutes and enjoy a sustained spell of possession. They can't work it into the box, though, and Madrid start to get into the game.
We're underway
The game gets going and Mbappé almost sneaks through before City regain control of the ball. It'll be interesting to see who takes command in these early stages.
Pre-match huddles and we're almost ready to go. City will kick off.
The players emerge from the tunnel to the Champions League theme tune. They line up ahead of the handshakes.
5 minutes to go
Five minutes to kick-off and the players are gathered in the tunnels. Out in the stadium, it's a sea of white scarves as the Madrid masses get ready to greet their players.
Our deputy editor Matthew Ketchell reckons fans in the UK are being short-changed, when comparing TNT's coverage with the "charming chaos" across the pond on Paramount+.
Here's his opinion piece:
Agree?
Interested in the commentary and punditry options tonight? Here's a selection...
RTÉ line-up for Madrid v City
• Presenter: Joanne Cantwell
• Commentators: Darragh Maloney, Ray Houghton
• Pundits: Dietmar Hamann, Richie Sadler
TNT Sports line-up for Madrid v City
• Presenter: Reshmin Chowdhury
• Commentators: Darren Fletcher
• Pundits: Steve McManaman, Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott
Paramount+ line-up for Madrid v City
• Presenter: Kate Scott
• Commentators: Clive Tyldesley
• Pundits: Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, Thierry Henry
Is there a free live stream for Madrid v City?
There is. Fans in Ireland can count themselves lucky - there aren't many free Champions League streams but Irish public broadcaster RTÉ has rights to certain games, including Madrid v City.
The Real Madrid v Man City live stream is on the RTÉ Play streaming platform, which is available via a simple browser player. The feed is free, with no registration or sign-in required. It is geo-restricted, so will only work in Ireland.
Away from Ireland right now?
You can still watch Madrid v City on RTÉ Play by using a VPN...
Just under half an hour until kick-off and the atmosphere is building. This was the scene outside the Bernabeu a short while ago.
TEAM NEWS: MAN CITY NAME STARTING LINE-UP
Big news: Haaland on the bench
The big news for Man City is that Erling Haaland is not in the starting XI. The super-striker was subbed off at the weekend and has not been deemed fit enough to star. He has travelled to Spain so will take a place on the bench, and it remains to be seen whether he's in good enough condition to make an impact as a sub if required later in the game.
Starting XI: Ederson, Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico Gonzalez, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Savinho, Omar Marmoush.
Substitutes: Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Matheus Nunes, Scott Carson, Rico Lewis, James McAtee.
TEAM NEWS: REAL MADRID NAME STARTING LINE-UP
Antonio Rudiger slots straight back into central defence after missing the first leg. Other than that, it's the same 10 players who started last week at the Etihad.
Starting XI: Thibaut Courtois, Federico Valverde, Antonio Rudiger, Marco Asencio, Ferland Mendy, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Substitutes: Lunin, Mestre, Alaba, Camavinga, Modric, Guller, Endrick, Vasquez, Vallejo, Fran Garcia, Brahim.
Real Madrid v Man City: TV & Streaming
As ever, there are plenty of ways to watch Real Madrid v Man City, wherever you are in the world...
🇬🇧 TNT Sports (TV) / Discovery+ (streaming)
🇮🇪 RTÉ 2 (TV & Streaming) – FREE
🇺🇸 Paramount+ (streaming)
🇦🇺 Stan Sport (streaming)
📺 Our full guide on how to watch Real Madrid v Man City from anywhere
Siege mentality
The Bellingham incident is the latest addition to a narrative of perceived bias that Madrid have stoked up in recent weeks. They even published an open letter to the Spanish football federation regarding refereeing quality. It’s the latest symptom of what might kindly be termed a siege mentality or possibly even a conspiracy theory. This comes, of course, after the club’s farcical boycotting of the Ballon d’Or awards after they got wind that Vinicius Junior wouldn’t be winning. City’s Rodri did instead, as the City fans reminded Madrid with an enormous Oasis-themed tifo last week - itself a little ridiculous. It’s all a little ridiculous.
You or off?
Two innocuous three-letter words of the English language have caused a storm in Spain since the weekend, with fans, players, and pundits poring over their semantic differences.
The context here is that one of them was preceded by the ‘f’ word, uttered by Jude Bellingham in Madrid’s 1-1 draw at Osasuna on Saturday. Bellingham was shown a red card, but the case for the defence exploding out of the Madrid camp has been that he said ‘f*** off’ as opposed to ‘f*** you’. In other words, he was chastising himself, and not abusing the referee.
The linguistic analysis of these foreign words, covering radio phone-ins and TV chat shows, has been as frenzied as it has forensic. Football, hey?
Pep's Champions League record
The Man City boss has a storied history with this competition. We've got a piece charting his UCL results right back to his time at Barcelona.
► Pep Guardiola: The Manchester City boss season by season in the Champions League
Team news: Man City
The big question for City is whether Erling Haaland is fit enough to start the game. The talismanic striker was taken off against Newcastle at the weekend and while he has been included in the squad, there are lingering doubts over his fitness. Jack Grealish is also a doubt after picking up a knock in the first leg. He has also travelled to Spain but Pep Guardiola has other options in his position. Amid City's defensive turmoil, there's welcome news with the return of Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake to the squad.
Manchester City 22-man squad
Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Omar Marmoush, Mateo Kovacic, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku,, Nico Gonzalez, Kevin De Bruyne, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol, Savinho, Matheus Nunes, Ederson, Scott Carson, Abdukodir Khusanov, Phil Foden, Rico Lewis, James McAtee.
Team news: Real Madrid
The home side welcome back defenders Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba after they missed the first leg through injury. Lucas Vázquez is also back in the 22-man squad but is a major doubt to play. Otherwise, the stars are all present and correct, with Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, and Kylian Mbappé all set to start. The line-up will be revealed closer to kick-off but here are the players in the suqad.
22-man squad
Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Sergio Mestre, Lucas Vazquez, Raul Asencio, Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Jesus Vallejo, Fran Garcia, Ferland Mendy, Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos, Arda Guler, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo, Endrick, Brahim Diaz.
Quiz time!
We've still got a few hours until kick-off, so why not sharpen up by putting your knowledge to the test?
► Can you name the Manchester City line-up from the 2023 Champions League final against Inter Milan?
The stage is set
How did we get here?
A knockout clash between the past two winners of the Champions League, before we've even got to the knockout stages... it does feel a little odd (not that you'll hear us complaining).
There's a new format for the Champions League this year, and the first phase is now actually a league. Instead of the old groups, there was one mega league of 36 teams, with 16 going through the knockout rounds - last-16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, final. The league's top 8 teams went through automatically, while the bottom 12 were eliminated.
The 16 teams in the middle, finishing from places 9-24, were entered into a play-off round, which threw up this incredible tie between two the pre-tournament favourites (Madrid finished 11th, while City scraped in in 22nd place).
First leg re-cap
Real Madrid lead the tie on aggregate after snatching a 3-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium last week. Man City led 2-1 with five minutes to go, but somehow conspired to throw it away – not for the first time in this uncharacteristically sloppy season of theirs.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the hosts on 19 minutes with a neat finish after a chipped through ball from Jack Grealish, and it was the Norwegian star striker who put City ahead again from the penalty spot late on after Kylian Mbappé had equalised on the hour with a fortuitous mis-kicked volley.
But having worked their way into a golden position, City could not see it out. Six minutes later, with four minutes of normal time remaining, the former City man Brahim Díaz was first to a rebound which he calmly stroked home. And the disappointment turned to a nightmare for City in the dying minutes as Vinicius Jr pounced on a loose ball, sprinted towards goal and lifted the ball over the keeper. It was going wide, but Jude Bellingham was racing from midfield to slide in and tap in at the back post to spark wild celebrations among the Madrid camp.
