MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé was celebrating a “perfect night” with Real Madrid — one that included his third Champions League hat-trick and his club securing a spot in the round of 16 to keep alive its hopes of winning a record 16th European title.
With a pair of goals in the first half and another in the second, Mbappé led Madrid to a comfortable 3-1 win over Manchester City on Wednesday. The Spanish powerhouse advanced 6-3 on aggregate after a 3-2 first-leg win in England.
“This was a perfect night,” Mbappé said. “We wanted to win and this was how to do it. We gave everything in front of our home fans and we won because we produced a great performance against City, who are always difficult to play.”
Mbappé joined Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski on the list of players with two hat-tricks in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo has four. Mbappé’s other hat tricks came with Paris Saint-Germain against Barcelona in 2021 and in the group stage against Club Brugge in 2019.
“Mbappé has the quality to match Cristiano’s numbers, but he has to work a lot because Cristiano has set the bar very high,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Madrid player Jude Bellingham was among those praising Mbappé’s performance against City.
“Mbappé is very special — everyone knows that and he never stops proving it,” he said. “He’s a better person than a player and we’re going to benefit from his goals.”
The France star said it was one of his best games since he joined Madrid this season.
“Whether this was my best game for Madrid or not, I’m not the best person to analyze,” he said. “Better that somebody else decides. I’m here to play and to perform on the pitch. I would categorize this as a great team performance.”
Mbappé said he would rather see Madrid face city rival Atletico Madrid instead of Bayer Leverkusen in the next round, mostly to avoid a trip to Germany.
“Honestly, I would rather we are drawn against Atletico,” Mbappé said. “They are two great clubs and it would be difficult either way. But in the next round, it would be much better for us if we don’t have to travel.”
Dortmund ease into Champions League last 16
Borussia Dortmund cruised into the last 16 of the Champions League after a goalless draw with Sporting Lisbon sealed a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Serhou Guirassy missed a second-half penalty, but it mattered for nothing in the end as last season’s finalists were rarely troubled by Sporting and coasted through.
Dortmund’s reward is a last 16 game against Aston Villa or Lille.
“It was a controlled performance,” Dortmund coach Niko Kovac told reporters.
“In the second half, we had the missed penalty and the shot against the post from Giovanni Reyna. We should have won, but we’re through at the end of the day.
“We’re working on taking our goalscoring opportunities. I believe in the lads.”
It was always a tough ask for this young Sporting side, ravaged by injury, to overturn the damage done in last week’s first leg, when Guirassy, Pascal Gross, and Karim Adeyemi all scored.
Dortmund dominated much of the return leg on a freezing night in Germany, with Marcel Sabitzer coming closest to breaking the deadlock with a rasping drive from distance that Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva did well to palm around his post.
After the break, Dortmund got the chance to put the tie to bed from the spot when Silva was adjudged to have brought down Adeyemi in the box after Nico Schlotterbeck’s long pass split the visitors’ defence.
But Guirassy’s well-hit penalty was saved superbly by the Portuguese goalkeeper low to his right, denying the Guinean striker an 11th Champions League goal in 10 games this season.
