It felt like the air was sucked out of Manchester City before kick-off against Real Madrid | OneFootball

Manchester City needed everything to go right at the Bernabeu last night to beat Real Madrid. As we saw throughout the game Pep Guardiola’s side was outclassed by Carlo Ancelotti’s side as nothing went right. City went down to a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid to crash out of the Champions League with a 6-3 aggregate defeat. A Kylian Mbappe hat trick blew City away as the hosts dominated the world champions. But on a night when Manchester City needed everything to go right, everything started to go wrong from the moment the starting lineups were announced.

The major surprise when Manchester City’s starting lineup was announced was that Erling Haaland was on the bench. Pep Guardiola revealed that Haaland hadn’t recovered from the knee injury he sustained against Newcastle last Saturday. That announcement did appear to suck the life out of everyone associated with Manchester City. From on the pitch, to the possibility of City potentially pulling off the improbable, it did appear that Haaland’s absence did cast a shadow over the game.

It has to be said that based on how Manchester City performed last night Erling Haaland may not have made much of a difference to proceedings. When the game was up for grabs Pep Guardiola’s side couldn’t fire a shot. Real Madrid dominated the game from the moment Kylian Mbappe gave them an early lead. But without Haaland City lacked their most dangerous weapon. Haaland’s absence seemed to lift Real Madrid’s players and City’s players seemed deflated. The game played out in that manner. Manchester City went out of the Champions League without firing a shot at the Bernabeu.

Manchester City played without any life and energy last night. It did appear that Haaland’s absence contributed to this to a small degree.