Kylian Mbappe is Cristiano Ronaldo's true heir! Winners and losers of the Champions League play-off phase as purring PSG lay down marker and Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini disgraces himself in a dark week for Italian football

After a slow start to life at Real Madrid, Mbappe is now up to 28 goals in his first season at the club, with 11 of those coming in his last seven appearances across all competitions. The former PSG frontman suddenly looks like the best player in the world again, and Manchester City had no answer to his genius at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Mbappe hit an incredible hat-trick to give Real a 3-1 victory in the second-leg clash and dump City out of the competition. All three goals were right out of the top drawer, and inevitably led to comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo, who regularly delivered match-winning performances of that ilk throughout his nine-year spell in Madrid.

Ronaldo's record total of 451 goals for Los Blancos is a long way off at this stage, but Carlo Ancelotti sees no reason why Mbappe can't go on to emulate the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. "He has the quality to reach his numbers, but he has to work, because Cristiano set the bar very high. But he is so excited to play here, he can reach Cristiano's level," the Madrid boss told reporters after the game.

Mbappe is the true heir to Ronaldo's throne. No limits should be placed on what the Frenchman can achieve with Real, who will go on to defend their European crown if he maintains his electrifying form.

Pep Guardiola's empire has fallen. Manchester City's miserable season hit a new low as they were played off the park in Madrid. In the absence of injured goal-scoring terminator Erling Haaland, City posed almost no threat to Ancelotti's superior side, and Guardiola made no excuses after failing to reach the Champions League last 16 for the first time in his managerial career.

"It’s the year we’ve been the worst," he said. "We have been a great team and this year, for many reasons, we are not." Guardiola looks and sounds like a defeated man. Not even an emergency £200 million ($250m) winter splurge on new players could save City from European humiliation, and now, they only have the FA Cup left to play for.

Just 21 months after winning the treble, City are in crisis, and it's patently obvious Guardiola doesn't have any idea how to get them back on track. He's gone from near-God-like status to a figure of ridicule, with Madrid fans heard sarcastically chanting "Guardiola stay!" when the final whistle blew in the Spanish capital.

City's decision to tie Guardiola down to a new two-year deal in November has backfired dramatically. Much like at the end of his tenure at Barca, it seems that the Catalan is running on empty. No lasting damage has been done to his legacy at the Etihad Stadium yet, but that could soon change, especially if he also has to deal with the fallout from any severe punishment in the club's court case against the Premier League.

Is this the best PSG team we've ever seen? That was the overriding feeling after their crushing 10-0 aggregate annihilation of Ligue 1 rivals Brest on Europe's biggest stage.

Luis Enrique has claimed that the French champions have become a stronger unit since Mbappe's exit, and it's hard to argue with that assessment. Gifted youngsters like Bradley Barcola and Joao Neves are already fulfilling their potential, Ousmane Dembele has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence to finally shake off the tag of Barcelona flop, and household names such as Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos and Vitinha have all been near-faultless.

PSG started slowly in the league phase, but clicked into top gear in their 4-2 win over Man City, and laid down a marker as potential Champions League winners with their demolition of Brest. Luis Enrique has so much firepower at his disposal, with January addition Khvicha Kvaratskhelia completing the attack, and he's also built a fearsome defence that looks capable of holding out against the very best. This much is certain: neither Liverpool or Barcelona want to face PSG in the last 16.

Bayern Munich are not going to be lifting the Champions League trophy in their home stadium. That is what we learned from their extremely unconvincing play-off win over Celtic, which was only confirmed after Alphonso Davies' scrappy late equaliser in the second leg of the tie at the Allianz.

Harry Kane's prolific exploits won't be enough to outweigh Bayern's limitations as a collective in the latter stages of the competition (assuming he makes a full recovery from a niggling calf issue). There will be a repeat of the 4-1 league-phase humbling at the hands of Barcelona somewhere down the line, because Vincent Kompany's team are little more than possession-merchants who crumble when the ball is turned over.

The centre-back partnership of Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae is failing, and Bayern have a real problem in midfield, with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretza showing signs of decline. Bayern still have plenty of depth up top, but they're not incisive enough under Kompany, who is still struggling to prove himself as a top-level manager.

Eredivisie fans have not had much to cheer about in the Champions League since Ajax's run to the 2018-19 semi-finals. The four-time winners didn't even qualify for this season's competition, and expectations were low for Feyenoord and PSV when the league phase kicked off.

Both teams managed to make the play-offs, though, and they'll be flying the flag for the Netherlands in the round of 16, too, after respectively claiming the scalps of AC Milan and Juventus. It's an especially significant feat for Feyenoord, who have ended their 50-year wait to reach the knockout phase, and with Robin van Persie set to return to the club as manager, they'll be eyeing another upset or two.

But it's PSV who have the best chance of pulling off an Ajax-esque run. Peter Bosz's side managed to overpower Juventus, even without injured American duo Ricardo Pepi and Malik Tillman, and let's not forget that they were the only team to beat Liverpool in the league phase.

No one is getting carried away, as neither of these teams come close to embodying the 'total football' philosophy Dutch football is built on, but Feyenoord and PSV have done brilliantly to punch above their weight and maintain the Eredivisie's reputation in Ajax's absence.

Serie A chiefs were probably extremely confident about having four Italian teams in the Champions League knockouts when the draw for the playoffs was made. Europa League holders Atalanta could hardly have been handed an easier tie on paper after finishing ninth in the league phase as they were pitted against Club Brugge. The Belgian side scraped qualification in 24th place after winning only three of their eight games, scoring just seven goals compared to Atalanta's 20.

And yet somehow, Atalanta lost the tie 5-2 on aggregate. That is an unforgivable result for the side sitting third in Serie A, who were far too wasteful across the two legs.

AC Milan, meanwhile, lost to a currently manager-less Feyenoord side who have slipped to fourth in the Eredivisie. The Rossoneri also bought the Dutch club's best player, Mexico striker Santiago Gimenez, in the winter transfer window, but still didn't have enough to swat them aside, with their fate effectively sealed after Theo Hernandez picked up a stupid red card in the second leg.

Juventus also went out in embarrassing fashion against PSV, with 36-year-old former Inter star Ivan Persic masterminding their downfall by scoring twice across the two legs. Thiago Motta's side did at least force extra-time, but their energy and commitment levels paled in comparison to PSV's, and once again the Bianconeri were made to pay for a lack of cutting edge.

Italian football is in the mud, and the chances of Serie A earning an extra qualification spot for next season's competition are all but over.

Brugge's win over Atalanta was without doubt the biggest upset of the 2024-25 Champions League so far. Nicky Hayen's side showed great character to steal a 2-1 win in the first leg through a stoppage-time goal from Gustaf Nilsson, and they made the perfect start to the second at Gewiss Stadium, with Chemsdine Talbi scoring twice inside the opening 30 minutes to give Atalanta a mountain to climb.

The Serie A giants dominated possession and had plenty of chances on home turf, but Brugge dug in admirably, and always looked dangerous on the counter. The Belgian outfit ultimately went through because they were far more determined and clinical than their opponents.

Perhaps we should have seen it coming. After all, Brugge gave Man City a huge scare on the final league-phase matchday, with the likes of Talbi, Christos Tzolis and Raphael Onyedika tearing through the Premier League champions' defence at will. Aston Villa or Lille would be foolish to underestimate the Belgians ahead of Friday's draw.

Gian Piero Gasperini has worked miracles at Atalanta, transforming the team into Serie A title contenders while also delivering the club's first-ever European trophy. But much of the credit he has built up was lost on Tuesday, and not only because he couldn't guide his side past the weakest team left in the competition.

Ademola Lookman missed a penalty in the second half that might have changed the outlook of the tie. It wasn't a well-executed spot kick, but mistakes happen, and it was Lookman who had scored the goal that initially got Atalanta back into the game after his introduction as a second-half substitute.

That extra context was completely lost on Gasperini, though, as he launched a stunning attack on the Nigeria forward after the game. "Lookman wasn’t supposed to take the penalty. He's one of the worst penalty-takers I’ve ever seen," said the Italian coach. "Even in training he has a very low percentage, he kicks them really badly. He wanted to take the penalty after scoring a goal. He took the ball despite [Mateo] Retegui and [Charles] De Keteleare available to take it. I didn’t like what Lookman did."

Lookman has since come out to defend himself, claiming "the designated penalty taker asked me to take it" while branding Gasperini's public remarks "deeply disrespectful". That is an understatement, and it's no surprise that reports have already surfaced suggesting Lookman will push for a summer exit.

Gasperini disgraced himself, and should face disciplinary action from Atalanta for his treatment of a player who has done so much for the club.