RB Leipzig are out of the Champions League after Erling Haaland dramatically returned to form to send Manchester City into the last eight on a night when they scored seven.
Leipzig never got started in Manchester despite the promise of the first leg. Instead they fell foul to a rough penalty call against Benjamin Henrichs midway through the first half. His debatable handball resulted in a penalty that Haaland cooly dispatched — and Leipzig never recovered.
If City’s first was fortuitous, the second was classic Haaland. Kevin de Bruyne’s rasping drive rattled the bar and dropped for Haaland, who scored from close range.
Leipzig barely expressed themselves as an attacking force but their one chance was spurned, with Konrad Laimer pouncing on Rodri’s misplaced pass, but Laimer’s ball to Werner was too heavy and Werner couldn’t get to grips with it.
City sensed blood and got the job done before the break, with Haaland grabbing his hat-trick goal after Ruben Dias had headed against the inside of the post. Haidara did his best to clear off the line, but the richochet went in off the Norwegian.
Unfortunately for Leipzig, that was only the start. Ilkay Gündogan’s silky finish made it four on the night before Haaland made it 5-0 from close range.
Leipzig were in generous mood at the Etihad Stadium and offered up the former Borussia Dortmund striker another chance before the hour – and he obliged smashing in his fifth of the night and City’s sixth.
Haaland was withdrawn by Pep Guardiola just after the hour mark to rest him for the battles ahead. That added insult to injury for Leipzig, whose embarrassment in Manchester adds to the defeats by Union Berlin and Dortmund which have derailed their season in the space of a month.
Leipzig’s night of misery was capped off by a beautiful seventh by De Bruyne in injury time.
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