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Man City player ratings v Real Madrid - One scores 8/10 as five get 7/10 - gallery
Manchester City player ratings v Real Madrid
Manchester City player ratings v Real Madrid

Manchester City were eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday, losing to Real Madrid on penalties at the Etihad.

It was a game City dominated and amassed 33 shots to eight, as well as 68 percent of possession. But the famous Real Madrid came to the

It was a nervy start at the Etihad, with no shots inside the opening 10 minutes. Yet, with the first real chance of the game, the visitors took the lead.

Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior all combined inside the City half, with the latter swinging a dangerous cross into the box to the waiting Rodrygo. The Brazilian, who netted in last week’s fixture, fired his first effort right at Ederson but followed up to tap in the rebound.

City responded well from the setback as Erling Haaland twice went close from headers. The second crashed agonisingly off the crossbar and Silva couldn’t react in time to steer home after the ball bounced at his feet.

The early goal had set the pattern of the game with Madrid sitting deep and looking to break via Vinicius and Rodrygo, while City dominated possession but found it impossible to break down Madrid’s watertight set-up. Kevin De Bruyne did force Andriy Lunin into a stop on 27 minutes when he curled an effort from the edge of the box towards the bottom corner, while Antonio Rudiger’s recovering run and block prevented Jack Grealish from scoring on the break.

City continued to push in the second half and Grealish twice saw shots saved, while Josko Gvardiol’s header was cleared by Eduardo Camavinga from just a few yards out. But those chances proved to be in vain as City habitually moved the ball from side to side in search of an equaliser, but simply couldn’t find a way to penetrate the Madrid rearguard.

It was a rare mistake that resulted in the European champions getting back on level terms as Rudiger - City’s nemesis in the Champions League in the past - failed to deal with Manuel Akanji’s cross into the box, and when the ball fell at the feet of De Bruyne he smashed it into the roof of the net.

The Belgian could have won the game in normal time with two more chances as he curled over in the 78th minute from distance and skied a shot from 12 yards soon after - a chance he should really have converted.

But with the score level at 1-1 (4-4 on aggregate) after 90 minutes, the game went to extra-time. There were few chances in the added-on period with both sides exhausted after an intense encounter. Rudiger went closest when his near-post shot hit the wrong side of the netting, while Julian Alvarez fired right at Lunin in the final minute of extra time.

No goals meant penalties. Silva and Mateo Kovacic missed for City and only Luke Modric failed to convert his spot-kick for Madrid. It was Rudiger who netted the final penalty to send Los Blancos into the next stage and City crashing out.

Here’s how we rated the City players...

1 . Ederson- 6 Couldn't do much about Rodrygo's goal having saved the initial shot. The keeper didn't have much to do on the night with City dominating possession and Madrid not offering a regular attacking threat.
Returned to the side after missing the last five matches. Walker made some important recovery runs but didn't cover himself in glory for Madrid's goal as he slipped at the back post and wasn't close enough to Rodrygo as the cross was sent in.
2 . Kyle Walker- 6 Returned to the side after missing the last five matches. Walker made some important recovery runs but didn't cover himself in glory for Madrid's goal as he slipped at the back post and wasn't close enough to Rodrygo as the cross was sent in.
3 . Manuel Akanji- 7 (off 112) Perhaps his best performance in the 'John Stones role' as he pushed into midfield. Akanji's influence was pivotal in City getting back into the game and his cross resulted in De Bruyne's equaliser.
4 . Ruben Dias- 7 Made some important defensive contributions and nicked ahead of the opposition attacker on several occasions to win the ball.

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