Inside the Manchester City dressing room during late Real Madrid drama in Champions League

Manchester City’s stars watched on with nervousness during the closing stages of Real Madrid’s 4-2 defeat at Benfica on the final matchday of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase, it has been revealed.

The dramatic finale to the league phase produced one of the most tense moments, with Manchester City directly impacted by events unfolding in Lisbon, despite taking care of their own business at the Etihad Stadium.

City entered matchday eight knowing a place in the top eight – and direct passage into the Round of 16 – was far from guaranteed following a shock defeat away at Bodø/Glimt, leaving little margin for error and even victory over Galatasaray potentially not being enough.

The wider picture on the final night only added to the tension; Arsenal completed a flawless league phase, while Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Tottenham also progressed automatically, meanwhile Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain stumbled.

Speaking with Sky Sports, Manchester City’s versatile midfielder Matheus Nunes reflected on the dramatic moments during the final stages of matchday eight in the Champions League’s league phase.

“We were very delighted,” the Portugal international admitted. “After the game, we were watching the Benfica game as well because if Real Madrid scored, we would not be in the top-eight.”

He continued, “So we were watching, we celebrated when [Anatoliy] Trubin scored the header… We were very delighted that we were in the top-eight.”

Offering some clarification on the nature of celebrations within the Manchester City dressing room, Nunes continued, “Especially for me, because I’m a Sporting fan, I’m not a Benfica fan – so it’s kind of weird to say!

“But at that moment, you don’t look at the badge, you just hope for the best for the club and the colours you’re defending. Sometimes you’ve got to do this; we were in that position because we didn’t win our games that we should have won.

“So we put ourselves in that position, a difficult position. But in the end, it was lovely.”

Manchester City’s composed 2-0 win over Galatasaray, secured through goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, ultimately proved just enough as Benfica’s stunning victory over Real Madrid pushed the Spanish giants into the play-off places.

That sequence of events allowed Pep Guardiola’s side to sneak into eighth position and avoid a potentially punishing February schedule of nine matches across competitions in the space of just 28 days.

Looking ahead, City will now sit out the knockout play-off round and return to European action in March, where they will face the winner of either Benfica against Real Madrid or Bodø/Glimt against Inter Milan.