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Manchester City threatened to give Real Madrid a reminder of who they had been last year. The Spanish giants arrived at the Etihad for the first leg of their Champions League play-off smelling blood against Pep Guardiola's wounded side but were stunned by two Erling Haaland goals and a raucous crowd.

Then a late collapse gave Real a 3-2 win to take back to the Bernabeu and by the time they arrived in Madrid a week later the race was already run for the Blues. Spanish reporters were more interested in whether Jude Bellingham had said a naughty word and the game had barely kicked off when it was all over; Haaland wasn't fit enough to feature at all, Ruben Dias gave a goal away in the opening few minutes and John Stones was forced off injured as Real celebrated.

City w

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