Rio Ferdinand reacts to Kylian Mbappe embarrassing Man City star for Real Madrid

Rio Ferdinand could not help but laugh after Kylian Mbappe embarrassed Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol with a stunning goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Already boasting a one-goal advantage following a 3-2 win in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium, Real Madrid appeared to put the Champions League play-off tie to bed with a scintillating first-half display at the Bernabeu.

Fans and pundits were curious to see if Pep Guardiola’s side could respond and keep their European hopes alive but Man City conceded after just four minutes.

A long ball from the back caused City’s defence much more trouble than it should have, with the experienced Ruben Dias misjudging a header to allow Mbappe to race through on goal and lob Ederson with a superb finish.

Faced with a mountain to climb, Manchester City did little to suggest they could get back into the tie, with Real Madrid in fact pushing for a second.

And the home side scored again on 33 minutes as Mbappe picked up the ball from the hapless City defence and sat down Gvardiol with a frightening dummy before slotting past Ederson.

Reacting to the sensational goal, a sniggering Ferdinand said on TNT Sports’ commentary: ‘Mbappe, that is wonderful, devastating.

‘He has absolutely laid the defender down on the floor and said, “sit down there and watch me slot this home”.

‘This goal is all about Kylian Mbappe. He laid him out. He might as well have got him a pillow to lie on there.’

Lead commentator Darren Fletcher added: ‘Kylian Mbappe puts the defender on the ground and slams it in. That’s brilliant.

‘Gvardiol might need a ticket to get back into the stadium. Mbappe just planted him on the turf and then put it past Ederson.’

Mbappe has recovered from a slightly underwhelming start to his Real Madrid career to amass 27 goals already this season.

The France World Cup winner, who has netted 13 goals in his last 11 appearances, has more goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League since 2016 than any other player.

Assessing Man City’s performance at the half-time interval, ex-England goalkeeper Paul Robinson said: ‘It has been disappointing from a Man City point of view.

‘To go 1-0 down within four minutes really took the wind out of their sails and they never really recovered.

‘They have not created any really good chances. As the half finished they got better and grew into the game but as long as the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo are on the pitch Man City look shaky defensively.

‘Any game plan that Pep Guardiola had coming into this game, set plays, shape, any other meetings, will have been focused around not conceding and staying in the game.

‘The manner in which they conceded the goal was poor too. Don’t get me wrong it was a fantastic finish from Kylian Mbappe but the ball should never have reached him.’

Real Madrid are of course the Champions League holders after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in last year’s final.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side have not been at their scintillating best so far this season – finishing 11th in the Champions League group phase – but can never be overlooked in Europe.

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