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Manchester City were ruthlessly dominant against Leipzig in a seven-goal performance.
Manchester City were at their terrifying best against Leipzig, ripping them apart and putting seven goals past them in a statement 7-0 victory.
Manchester City hosted Leipzig at the Etihad as they looked to advance into the next round of the Champions League after a difficult 1-1 draw in the first-leg. The game was nothing like its tightly contested prequel, as they ripped their visitors apart. 7-0 result on the night, and 8-1 on aggregate.
How it happened
Manchester City started like a house on fire, pressing Leipzig high up the pitch and recovering balls as fast as they lost them.
Manchester City had multiple opportunities to go ahead in the opening exchanges but were wasteful in the game.
They finally went ahead, but in controversial circumstances when they were handed a contentious penalty due to a handball in the box. Erling Haaland stepped up to take it and buried the ball in the back of the net with no fuss.
It became two soon enough when City's pressing resulted in a hasty clearance by Janis Blaswich. Manchester City quickly relaunched an attack and came close to doubling the lead when KDB released a thunderous shot that crashed the bar, however, Haaland was alert to head the rebound in.
Haaland grabbed his hat-trick in the second minute of first-half added time. This goal, like the first, came from him reacting quickest to a rebound, bundling the ball into the net.
The game was heading for an embarrassing end for Leipzig, and Gundogan ensured they were on the path, scoring a well-taken chance in the 49th minute of the game.
It became five only four minutes after Haaland grabbed his fourth of the game. This game also came from his strike ultra instincts, as he pounced on another rebound.
Four minutes after grabbing his fourth, Haaland was breathing rarified air, joining the exclusive list of players who have scored five goals in the Champions League. His fifth also came from reacting quickest to a rebound.
Haaland did not get a chance to grab an even rarer double hat-trick as he was substituted in the 63rd minute of the game for Julian Alvarez.
The scoring was not closed for the day, however, as Kevin de Bruyne finally got his goal to reward his exceptional performance, catching Blasic off his line for a sweet finish.
Manchester City now head into a draw for the semi-final of the competition, joining Inter Milan, who also qualified tonight, on aggregate, along with Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Benfica, and AC Milan.
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