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Manchester City comprehensively outplayed 14-time Champions League winners Real Madrid, beating them 5-1 on aggregate and keeping their treble ambitions alive.

Re-run

City, one of the first of this generation of state-affiliated clubs which include the likes of Paris St Germain and Newcastle, has dominated its domestic league for the last decade, winning it six times the past 12 years.

But the Champions League, the pinnacle of European football has so far eluded them, with the closest they have come being the 2021 final against fellow English club Chelsea.

Adding extra spice to the match was the fact that City facing Real Madrid was a re-run of the 2022 semi-final.

In 2022, City had beaten Madrid at home 4-3, and went a goal up in Madrid going into the 90th minute.

But with the semi-final 5-3 on aggregate, Madrid pulled off a stunning comeback, scoring three goals in extra time to win the tie 5-6, a loss that City's manager Pep Guardiola called "heartbreaking", according to the Guardian.

But there would be no repeat this year.

City visited Madrid first, where Real took an early lead, only to be cancelled out by Kevin de Bruyne's goal. The second leg would bear no resemblance to any of the previous three matches.

City's Bernardo Silva scored a brace to give City a clear lead going into half time, and two more second half goals would seal the deal.

What a night 💙
Fans were unbelievable and carried us 💙 pic.twitter.com/mvw5OAL2j7

— Bernardo Silva (@BernardoCSilva) May 17, 2023

Bubble, bubble, toil and treble

This means that City have completed all the prerequisites needed to equal the Treble, which is a team winning its domestic league, its domestic cup, and the Champions League in the same season.

This has been done before in 1999 by Manchester United, and is considered the crowning achievement of nearly 30 years of dominance of English football.

City and United are fierce local rivals, and matching this achievement would clearly be seen to sticking it to City's doubters, as well as its derby rivals.

While the Premier League appears to be safely secured, barring a shocking collapse, success in the two cup competitions are less clear.

City, who appeared wobbly in the initial part of the season, have become an relentless force, racking up the wins in a comfortable fashion at a time when their close rivals appear to be tiring.

United will be able to put a halt to their treble dreams, as they face each other in the FA Cup final, although their away form has recently fallen off a cliff.

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Top image via @mancity/Twitter