Real Madrid 5-2 Manchester City: Pep Guardiola can’t escape Madrid in the Champions League
The LaLiga giants have eliminated Manchester City four times in five years, continuing their dominance in Europe’s elite competition.
Real Madrid have proven themselves to be the undisputed kings of the Champions League over the years, and not even the great Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have been able to stop them. At least not very often.
The LaLiga giants dumped City out of Europe’s elite club competition for the third season running and the fourth time in five years on Tuesday. Since 2015-16, the two teams have met in seven knockout ties, with Madrid advancing five times. Guardiola has been the City coach for all but one of those meetings, which Los Blancos won in 2015-16.
City, by comparison, have only won two of those seven ties.
🚨 Pep Guardiola: “Real Madrid have not been my biggest challenge. My biggest challenge has been Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 18, 2026
“Maybe you’re in Spain [journalists] and you didn’t notice… You have no idea how it was like to face Liverpool in those games, a great learning… pic.twitter.com/dKa5oiWT6N
Real Madrid vs Manchester City: Every Champions League game
Here’s a breakdown of every Champions League meeting between Real Madrid and Manchester City:
2025-26 Round of 16 – Real Madrid win 5-1 on aggregate
- Manchester City 1-2 Real Madrid
- Real Madrid 3-0 Manchester City
2025-26 league phase
- Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City
2024-25 knockout phase – Real Madrid win 6-3 on aggregate
- Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City
- Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid
2023-24 quarterfinals – Real Madrid win on penalties
- Manchester City 1-1 Real Madrid
- Real Madrid 3-3 Manchester City
2022-23 semifinals – Manchester City win 5-1 on aggregate
- Manchester City 4-0 Real Madrid
- Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester City
2021-22 semifinals – Real Madrid win 6-5 on aggregate
- Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City
- Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid
2019-20 Round of 16 – Manchester City win 4-2 on aggregate
- Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid
- Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City
2015-16 semifinals – Real Madrid win 1-0 on aggregate
- Real Madrid 1-0 Manchester City
- Manchester City 0-0 Real Madrid
2012-13 group stage
- Manchester City 1-1 Real Madrid
- Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester City
Multiple goals disallowed, red cards and Vinícius Jr. brace... 😮
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) March 17, 2026
Man City and Real Madrid never disappoint 👏💥 pic.twitter.com/hyXtRWjsPr
Madrid’s edge in the big moments
Since their first meeting in 2012, the teams have played 17 times. The head-to-head record in individual games is close - seven wins for Madrid compared to City’s five - but the Spaniards have consistently had the last laugh in Europe.
Real Madrid have eliminated Manchester City in the knockout phase playoffs once, the round of 16 once, the quarterfinals once, and the semifinals twice. Before this year, Los Blancos went on to win the Champions League in three of the four seasons in which they knocked City out.
City, meanwhile, beat Madrid in the round of 16 during the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season and in the semifinals in 2022-23, the year they won their only Champions League title to date.
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