MANCHESTER, England -- For a club that has endured some agonising luck in the Champions League over the years, Manchester City will feel that they hit the jackpot on the night that Pep Guardiola's team qualified for the quarterfinals by sending Real Madrid crashing out of the competition with a 2-1 victory.
Not only did City bring an end to Zinedine Zidane's incredible run of success in the tournament with Real -- this was the first time Zidane had suffered an elimination from the Champions League as coach -- Guardiola's players walked off the pitch at the Etihad Stadium to be greeted by the news that Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus will not be blocking their path to European glory in the final-eight tournament in Lisbon next week following their shock exit at the hands of Lyon in Turin.