DIAZ-ASTER AS CITY CRUMBLE

Pep's men put up a real fight only to throw it away late on

- John Cross

THE great shame is one of these European heavyweights will go out before the latter stages.

But you would have to be brave to bet against whoever wins this play-off tie from going on to lift the Champions League trophy in May.

They produced another thriller which ended in heartbreak for Manchester City as they threw it away when England's Jude Bellingham snatched a stoppage-time winner. City roused themselves from a season of indifference to produce a vintage performance which deserved more and it is still just in the balance for the second leg in the Bernabeu a week today.

Pep Guardiola got the band back together for one last hurrah to show this City generation are not finished just yet but they were let down by the story of their season: defensive mistakes. Erling Haaland was the two-goal hero but the support acts of John Stones, Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne Ederson REAL MADRID and Josko Gvardiol were terrific.