Manchester City Journey in Champions League 2024-2025

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League saw Manchester City get dumped out of the competition by Real Madrid, ending the club’s pursuit of a second European title in three years. City’s struggles were evident throughout the campaign, which began after a season-ending injury to the newly crowned Ballon d’Or winner Rodri. The Spaniard suffered a knee ligament injury in September 2024 in a game against Arsenal. Nobody expected City to be affected the way they’ve been without Rodri. From the Premier League to the UEFA Champions League, Pep Guardiola’s men have struggled, and the focus is now on whether or not they can bounce back next season.

League Phase Performance

Manchester City surprisingly struggled in the league phase of this season’s UEFA Champions League. In fact, the Cityzens only qualified for the playoff round on the last matchday, securing one of the last available playoff spots. They only won three of eight league phase games, suffering a 4-1 loss to Sporting Portugal and another 4-2 defeat to PSG.

By the time the group phase ended, Pep Guardiola’s men were in 22nd place, three places above the elimination places. This landed City on the unseeded side of the knockout phase, which meant they played a big team in the playoff round.

Playoff Round Against Real Madrid

Due to City placing 22nd on the table, they were handed a tough playoff round against Real Madrid. Although City was a struggling team, nobody expected them to lose 6-3 on aggregate. Erling Haaland gave Guardiola’s men an early lead in the first leg, scoring a beautiful goal in the 19th minute.

However, Kylian Mbappe got Real Madrid back in the game with a goal in the 60th minute. Haaland scored again for City in the 80th minute, but Brahim Diaz equalized six minutes later to make it 2-2. A late goal from Jude Bellingham in the 92nd minute gave Real Madrid an advantage going into the second leg.

Real Madrid wasted no time wrapping up the game in the second leg. Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in the first half and added a third in the 61st minute to complete his hat-trick, giving Real Madrid complete control of the game. Although Nico Gonzalez scored a late goal for City in the 92nd minute, it wasn’t enough to inspire a comeback.

Current Status: Manchester City's Champions League Standing

For the first time in a while under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City didn’t make it to the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. The Cityzens endured a challenging league phase, where they only won three out of the eight games they played in the league phase. They barely made it to the playoff round, where they faced Real Madrid, losing 6-3 on aggregate to the reigning champions.

Top Scorers for Manchester City in the 2024/25 Champions League:

Top Assists for Manchester City in the 2024/25 Champions League:

Erling Haaland was the top scorer for City in their 2024/25 UCL journey with eight goals. He had more than twice that of his closest companion, Phil Foden, who scored three goals for City.

Conclusion

Manchester City’s 2024/25 Champions League campaign was disastrous. It showed even one of the best teams in the world could falter on the biggest stage. Nothing was exciting about City's campaign in the UEFA Champions League this season, from winning three out of eight league phase games to losing heavily on aggregate to Real Madrid in the playoff round.

What made it even worse were the emphatic losses to Sporting Portugal and PSG in the league phase. Pep Guardiola’s men suffered an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP before losing 4-2 to PSG later in the campaign. They also drew 3-3 to Feyenoord after going three goals up in the game before letting the Dutch team get back, losing two valuable points.

City will now regroup ahead of next season. With new players joining in the January transfer window and more to join in the summer, and a fresh contract for Pep Guardiola, the Manchester club will try again and be ranked as one of the favorites to land the title next season.