Mbappé’s hat-trick to eliminate Manchester City, all qualified for the eighth… What to remember from the play-offs

The French international scored a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s victory against Cityzens (3-1) on Wednesday in the C1 second leg play-off.

The Champions League play-offs delivered their verdict on Wednesday February 19. After the slap inflicted by the Parisians on the Brestois (3-0, 7-0), and while Losc was directly qualified, France will have two representatives in the round of 16, like the Netherlands. Germany, England and Spain place three teams among the sixteen best in Europe, while Italy will only have one club at the meeting. The draw for the round of 16 will take place on Friday at noon.

Kylian Mbappé shines and extinguishes City

It was a date he had checked in his diary, his first real big European evening with Real Madrid, on the pitch at Santiago Bernabeu. And Kylian Mbappé was there, Wednesday February 19, to sweep Manchester City in the return play-off (3-1). The captain of the France team delivered a recital and scored a hat-trick, with three goals, each more beautiful than the other, bringing his total of goals in 10 Champions League matches this season to seven (28 in 38 matches in total this season).

In full success for several weeks, Kylian Mbappé first dampened the hopes of the Mancuniens with a superb lob from the edge of the area, from the start of the match (1-0, 4th). A little gem, but that was not enough for the French international, who achieved the double in an action of another kind, but just as beautiful, with a devastating hook on Josko Gvardiol (2-0, 33rd).

At only 26 years old, Kylian Mbappé reached the milestone of 500 career goals in all competitions during this major event which he left his mark on. 501 goals, even, since the captain of the Blues achieved the hat-trick, in an action worthy of his idol: the Brazilian Ronaldo. Leg pass, curled shot from the left into the opposite net (3-0, 61st). This time, the romance is well underway between Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid.

Asked about his favorite goal among the three, Kylian Mbappé decided, or almost, at the microphone of Canal+: “The third, because it’s the left foot (laughs). The three are beautiful, in a different register, I receive three good balls so I have time to see it coming. I take the time to observe”. Before returning to its new form: “It’s clear that at the start in Madrid, it wasn’t really that, I was looking for myself a little bit. I was able to reverse the trend. But it’s in the second half of the season that we will be judged…”, recognized the Frenchman. The Merengues will face Atlético de Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16.

Dortmund and Bayern there, the Italians are struggling

The new formula of the Champions League is not going to gain many fans in Italy. Facing Feyenoord Rotterdam, AC Milan fell in these play-offs (0-1, 1-1), weighed down by an error from Mike Maignan on the first leg, and by a stupid red card from Théo Hernandez on the return leg (1-1, cumulative score 1-2). Another transalpine club on the ground: Juventus Turin, also eliminated by the Dutch, those of PSV Eindhoven (1-0, 1-3).

Apart from these two surprises, and the qualification of Club Bruges against Atalanta Bergamo (winner of the last Europa League), the logic was respected in the other face-to-face matches. Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively defeated Sporting Portugal and Celtic Glasgow, without necessarily shining.

The sixteen teams qualified for the 8th

At the end of these play-offs, we now know the sixteen teams qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Eight qualified directly at the end of the regular phase, after finishing in the top 8 of the 34 teams entered: Liverpool, FC Barcelona, ​​Arsenal, Inter Milan, Aston Villa, Bayer Leverkusen and Losc.

To these eight teams are added, at the end of the play-offs, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Benfica Lisbon, Feyenoord Rotterdam, PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Dortmund, Club Bruges and Bayern Munich. A draw for the Champions League round of 16 will take place on Friday February 21, even if each team knows their potential opponents since the draw at the end of the regular phase. Thus, PSG will face FC Barcelona or Liverpool. Lille will challenge Club Bruges or Borussia Dortmund, finalist of the last edition.