Champions League: Man City knocks out Real Madrid after Varane nightmare

Raphael Varane was at fault twice as Manchester City beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the round of the 16 second leg to reach Champions League quarterfinals.

Gabriel Jesus celebrates Manchester City's second goal in the 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 second leg.

Manchester City reached the Champions League quarterfinals after beating Real Madrid 2-1 (4-2 on aggregate) at the Etihad Stadium on Friday, with scorers Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus taking advantage of errors by defender Raphael Varane.

Real, trailing 2-1 from the first-leg and without its suspended skipper and defensive lynchpin Sergio Ramos, made a disastrous start, gifting City an opener in the 9th minute.

Frenchman Varane, having received a pass inside his own area from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, was robbed by City forward Jesus, who squared the ball to Sterling who slotted home.

READ:Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid: Highlights

There was a strong response from the Spanish champion, with City keeper Ederson forced into fine saves to keep out efforts from Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard.

Ederson could do nothing, however, to keep out a bullet header from Benzema in the 28th minute, the Frenchman rising to power home a superb pin-point cross from Rodrygo.

City created chances after the break but lacked the killer touch and it took another piece of calamitous defending by Varane to decide the tie in the 68th as his attempted header back to Courtois was too weak and Jesus was alert again, nipping in to flick it past the keeper and make it 2-1 on the night.