Real Madrid snuck into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday night despite a lacklustre performance against RB Leipzig, while Champions Manchester City cruised into the last eight with command display of soccer against Copenhagen.
The Premier League giant netted twice inside the first 10 minutes to allay any fears over their progression to the Quarterfinals, winning 6-2 on aggregate.
Madrid absorbed plenty of pressure to hold on against RB Leipzig and book their spot in the next round.
Leipzig did not appear to be overawed by the setting, creating the bulk of the chances in the early going as they looked to pull level in the tie.
Loïs Openda was on the end of two glorious chances for the visitors, but the striker sent both efforts wide off the post to spare Madrid blushes.
The Bundesliga outfit remained threatening after the break, making Real Madrid look rather shaky at the back. But somehow, the home side hung on to keep their lead intact as the half wore on.
Real Madrid always find a way in this competition, however, hitting Leipzig on the break before Vinicius Junior fired a superb curler into the corner of the net to put the home side two clear on aggregate.
The celebrations did not last long though. From a corner just minutes later, RB Leipzig cut Real Madrid’s deficit when Willi Orbán headed home.
In Manchester, goals from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez killed the tie as a contest inside 10 minutes before Erling Haaland drilled in his 29th goal of the season.
Mohamed Elyounoussi briefly reduced the Danish champions deficit to 2-1 on the night, but Copenhagen were outclassed over two legs as the European champions remain on course for another treble.
City are involved in a tight three-way title race at the top of the Premier League with Liverpool and Arsenal and will face Newcastle in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Pep Guardiola showed he had one eye on Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash at Liverpool as he made seven changes from the side that beat Manchester United at the weekend.
Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva were among those to spend the 90 minutes on the bench to rest up ahead of the trip to Anfield.
But City were still a class apart and aided on their way into the last eight by some comical Copenhagen defending.
