Manchester City snuck through to the play-off phase of the Champions League after coming from behind to beat Club Brugge 3-1 and finish 22nd of the 24 qualified teams to secure progress. But City, with only three wins from eight games, will face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the play-offs . City's night had started in worrying fashion when a merchandise kiosk outside the stadium caught fire and it took a stirring second-half revival to ensure their European hopes did not go up in flames in the same way.
Pep Guardiola called for "something special" ahead of the game and what he got - in the first half at least - was something quite shocking as City failed to muster any drive, intensity or shots on target before getting stung on the break by Raphael Onyedika. City knew ahead of time - having surrendered a 2-0 lead at PSG to lose 4-2 last week - that anything other than a win would consign them to an early exit from the competition they won just 18 months ago but even that could not summon the urgency necessary to hurt Brugge. Luckily for Guardiola, all that changed after the break when Savinho came on, providing more direct threat and creating gaps, allowing Mateo Kovacic to drive through the heart of midfield and sweep home the leveller.
Everything became a bit more straightforward thereafter as Josko Gvardiol forced young defender Joel Ordonez to turn through his own net before Savinho scored a well-worked third to ease any lingering nerves with 13 minutes to go. Also See: .
