Winning Against Man City, A Danger Signal for Real Madrid?

Manchester City vs Real Madrid match result

Real Madrid sent a strong message to their Champions League rivals with a 3-2 away win over Manchester City on Wednesday (12/2/2025) early morning WIB. Despite stumbling in the league phase and having to go through the playoffs, they are now one step closer to the last 16 with that result.

Madrid simultaneously ended City's dominance at home in the Champions League. This result makes this season the bleakest for City and Pep Guardiola, as they are also struggling in domestic competitions. "Los Blancos" buried "The Citizens" to get closer to the round of 16.

A pair of goals by Erling Haaland in the 19th and 80th minutes briefly raised City's hopes of taking the lead into the second game at Bernabeu Stadium next week. However, City's advantage evaporated due to two late goals by Real, scored by Brahim Diaz (86') and Jude Bellingham (90+2).

Previously, Los Blancos managed to equalize through a curling shot by Kylian Mbappe in the 60th minute. Real became the first team to defeat City in a continental competition since September 2018. The last team to embarrass City at the Etihad was the French representative, Olympique Lyon.

Real's victory at Etihad brings them closer to the round of 16. Los Blancos are certainly more confident to play the second game at home. This is because they have never lost to City at home under the management of Carlo Ancelotti.

Why are Real Madrid and other big clubs stumbling in the league phase?

After passing through the first week which seemed ordinary, anomalies began to appear in the second week of the Champions League with its new format. Two giants, namely Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, achieved minor results on Thursday (3/10/2024) early morning WIB. Real was defeated by Lille, while Munich was beaten by Aston Villa. The new Champions League format has driven Lille and Villa to be ambitious in earning points in every match.

The negative results of Real and Munich could be an example of the fierce competition in the new format of the Champions League desired by UEFA. With the new format, UEFA aims for more balanced competition by eliminating the group stage and replacing it with a league phase. The number of clubs has increased from 32 to 36. In the league phase, each club now plays eight matches against different clubs, with four of them played at home and the rest away.

At the end of the league phase, the top eight clubs advance directly to the round of 16. Meanwhile, clubs ranked ninth to twenty-fourth will undergo playoffs. The winners of the playoffs are entitled to advance to the round of 16, following the eight clubs that qualified earlier. As for the clubs ranked twenty-fifth to thirty-sixth, they are directly eliminated without being able to participate in the Europa League as in previous editions of the Champions League.

Despite their struggles, why should Real Madrid be watched out for?

The evidence of Real Madrid's "European DNA" was proven last season when they continued to deliver miracles until they finally became champions. One of them was in the semifinal match that ended with a dramatic victory for Ancelotti's squad.

Normal time was less than three minutes remaining at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Thursday (9/5/2024) early morning WIB. The visiting team Bayern Munich was already leading 1-0 through substitute player Alphonso Davies. They only needed to maintain the score to meet another German team in the final, namely Borussia Dortmund.

Despite this, tens of thousands of home fans cheered in the stands. They seemed to know what was coming. Sure enough, three minutes later, Carlo Ancelotti's team turned the game around to 2-1. A pair of goals that seemed to fall from the sky were scored by substitute striker Joselu.

Madrid's first goal felt odd. Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer would have been the man of the match if it had only gone to the 87th minute. He made five crucial saves before the goal. But then, suddenly, he failed to catch a fairly slow shot from Vinicius. The ball went to Joselu's feet.

The winning goal for “El Real” was very dramatic. Joselu’s goal was initially disallowed by the assistant referee because he was in an offside position. There were two moments at once that had the potential to be offside, Joselu and the assist provider Antonio Ruediger. However, the video assistant referee (VAR) validated the goal. In the final, Madrid defeated Dortmund to lift the 15th Champions League trophy.

Which teams also have a chance to advance to the round of 16?

Celtic certainly has the status of a dark horse in the Champions League knockout playoff duel against Bayern Munich. However, Celtic has two assets to make Bayern go home from Celtic Park Stadium, Scotland, Thursday (2/13/2025) at 03.00 WIB, empty-handed and downcast.

Celtic have never won in their four previous meetings with Bayern in the Champions League. They have suffered three defeats, including a home defeat in the 2017-18 group stage. However, Celtic also held Bayern to a goalless draw in the early stages of the 2003-04 edition.

The history of frustrating Bayern more than two decades ago could be a provision for the team nicknamed "The Hoops" in the first match of the Champions League playoffs this season. The intimidating atmosphere of Celtic Park for the visiting team is a strength for Celtic to present a surprise and open up hopes of qualifying for the last 16.

A total of 60,000 Celtic supporters will start the match by cheering on their favorite team with a banner of support choreography. Then, Celtic supporters are known as one of the supporters who never stop shouting support songs throughout the match.

The performance at Celtic Park was a lifeline for them to break into the Champions League playoffs. Daizen Maeda and his friends bagged three wins and only one draw against the visiting team in Europe's most prestigious club competition.