Captain Bernardo Silva's first-half red card proved critical as Vinicius Junior's double helped perennial winners Real Madrid heap more Champions League misery on Manchester City by knocking Pep Guardiola's side out of the competition for the third consecutive season.

City had a monumental task on their hands to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit at the last-16 stage and, though they started on the front foot with bags of attacking impetus, Silva's first dismissal for City killed any hope of a remarkable comeback.

The Portuguese was stood on the goalline when he leaned into Vinicius' shot with his arm, and after a lengthy check by the video assistant referee (VAR) and on-field official Clement Turpin reviewing the incident on the pitch-side monitor, Silva was shown a straight red and a penalty was awarded to the visitors.

Vinicius had a spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma last week, but the Brazil forward made no mistake this time, sending the Italy number one the wrong way to silence an expectant Etihad Stadium crowd.

Real could have settled the tie in the opening minute when the Bernabeu's hat-trick hero Federico Valverde found himself through on goal, but was unable to get enough lift on a shot which dribbled through to Donnarumma.

City had opportunities to hit back in the tie but could not find a way past the towering Thibaut Courtois. Rayan Cherki shot straight at the Real goalkeeper, while Rodri's rising effort was pushed over and Erling Haaland's first-time effort was brilliantly kept out by the Belgian.

Haaland finally turned in a chance on the stroke of half-time to give City a glimmer of hope, but they could not stage an epic second-half revival as Vinicius added a second late in injury time.

City and Real have become familiar foes in this competition - this was the 11th meeting between the sides in the past five seasons and the La Liga giants prevailed again after their play-off round win last season and quarter-final victory two years ago.

Supporters had built up a fervent atmosphere in anticipation of a memorable result, but City will be sick of the sight of Real in the Champions League - they have been knocked out by their opponents on five occasions.

The damage on this occasion was done with a heavy defeat in Spain and City's exit from Europe means any faint hopes of claiming four trophies this season have officially extinguished.

The draw against West Ham at the weekend leaves City with a huge task of reclaiming the Premier League title, trailing leaders Arsenal by nine points with eight games left to play, while they meet the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

By the end of this week, City's campaign could be in ruins.

They host rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on 4 April and if they are defeated at Wembley, that competition may turn out to be the only chance to claim silverware following last season's trophyless showing.

With question marks remaining over Guardiola's future at City beyond the end of this summer, the manager has now failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second successive campaign - that has only happened once in his first 15 seasons as manager.

Before Silva's sending off, the hosts will be aggrieved an offside flag that went up in the build-up did not stand, with VAR intervening by saying Vinicius was onside.

The winger's resulting shot was kept out by the City skipper's elbow and it was deemed a deliberate handball, reducing the home side to 10 men for almost 70 minutes.

Even with 11 men on the pitch, City would have found it a struggle to turn the contest around, despite having a total of 21 shots, and both Jeremy Doku and Rayan Ait-Nouri having goals disallowed for offside.

Haaland's goal proved merely to be a consolation but the Norwegian will he hoping the strike will help him back to form having scored only five times in his past 19 games in all competitions.

Real Madrid analysis: Never rule them out

Valverde was City's tormentor last week. Vinicius was the tyrant on Tuesday.

Real have lifted this trophy on an unmatched 15 occasions and comfortably swatted aside City despite France captain Kylian Mbappe playing only 20 minutes in the tie and England international Jude Bellingham not featuring at all.

There was no looking back once captain Valverde netted a treble in the first half of the opening leg and he should have made it four overall with an early chance in Manchester.

But Real's superiority in Europe has now seen them progress from all 36 ties in which they have held a lead of three or more goals from the first leg. City could do little to overturn that particular statistic.

The brilliant Vinicius scored in each half but should have had more when he danced through and blazed over from close range after scoring his penalty, while also having another effort ruled out for offside.

Having replaced Xabi Alonso in January, former Liverpool right-back Alvaro Arbeloa is starting to settle in his role as head coach, becoming the first Real boss to win each of his first four Champions League knockout matches.

Real are likely to face a tantalising quarter-final against Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who hold a commanding 6-1 lead over Atalanta heading into Wednesday's second leg.

Should they progress, the Germans will have revenge on their minds having been knocked out of the Champions League by Real on seven occasions - the most by one team against another in the competition. (BBC)