Link to newsround

Champions League: Manchester City crash out of the competition

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling looks sad after the matchReuters

Manchester City suffered their third Champions League quarter-final knockout in a row, losing 3-1 to French side Lyon.

Lyon took the lead with a Maxwel Cornet strike in the first half and it took City well into the second half before they equalised through Kevin de Bruyne.

As City pushed for the win, Lyon substitute, Moussa Dembele, nipped in behind to put Lyon back in front.

City had a final chance to level the game, but Raheem Sterling blazed the ball high over the bar in front of an open goal - and just seconds later Dembele pounced to score his second and book Lyon's semi-final spot against Bayern Munich.

Reuters

Kevin de Bruyne levels things up

Top stats

  • Lyon's manager Rudi Garcia is the first French manager to take a French team to the Champions League semi-finals since 2009-10.

  • Guardiola has been eliminated in each of his three Champions League quarter-finals with Manchester City.

  • City's Kevin de Bruyne has been directly involved in more goals in 2019-20 than any other Premier League player (38 - 16 goals, 22 assists).

  • Lyon's Maxwel Cornet and Moussa Dembele have now scored four Champions League goals each against City, a joint record shared with Lionel Messi.

  • Raheem Sterling made his 50th Champions League appearance, aged 25 years and 251 days. The only Englishman to reach this milestone at a younger age was Wayne Rooney in 2010 (24 years, 115 days).

  • Sterling provided his 11th assist for Manchester City in the Champions League - the joint-most for the club alongside De Bruyne.

  • Fernandinho made his 58th appearance in the Champions League for Man City - the most of any City player in the competition.

Reuters

Pep saw his side crash out at the quarter-final stages again

What went wrong for City?

City manager Pep Guardiola's tactics for the match have been questioned by pundits and former players. He chose to leave some of his top creative stars on the bench and many think this had a big impact on the game.

City may also feel unlucky with the result of the VAR decision that allowed Lyon's second goal - it seemed to ignore a foul on City defender Aymeric Laporte by the Lyon goal scorer Dembele.

But Guardiola didn't want to use this as an excuse, saying, "It happened many times in this competition but I don't want to talk about anything now because it will be like we are finding excuses as a club. It is what it is."

Reuters

Moussa Dembele came off the bench to score two goals

Want to know how to improve your game? Learn some new tricks and tips here...

How to score an amazing volley

How to improve your football skills at home

Three top tips from a football freestyler

World's best footy freestylers dazzle with tricks

What next in the Champions League ?

The Champions League semi-finals will see two French teams - PSG and Lyon - and two German teams - RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich - battle it out for a place in the final. It is the first time since 2012-13 that there are just two different nations at the semi-final stage.

RB Leipzig will play PSG in the first semi-final on Tuesday while Bayern Munich take on Lyon on Wednesday.

Bayern are on top form after battering Barcelona with an 8-2 victory.

The final will take place on Sunday 23 August at the stadium of Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal.

More on this story