Jeremy Doku believes Manchester City’s Champions League campaign “will teach us some lessons” after they were knocked out in the last 16 by Real Madrid.
Vinicius Junior’s brace at the Etihad Stadium secured a 2-1 victory in the second leg in Manchester, and a 5-1 aggregate win.
Madrid have now eliminated City in five knockout ties in the Champions League, including in four of the last five seasons.
Indeed, only Bayern Munich have been eliminated more times by one side in knockout ties in the competition’s history (seven by Madrid).
And since winning the competition in 2022-23, Man City have gone past the round-of-16 stage only once in three seasons, reaching the quarter-finals in 2023-24.
Doku impressed in the defeat, completing seven dribbles, more than the entire Madrid team combined (six).
He has only completed more in a match in the Champions League for Rennes against Sevilla in December 2020 (eight).
The Belgian winger felt City fought well in the second leg, making their exit “a hard reality”.
Jeremy Doku told Amazon Prime: “I feel like we had a lot of chances. We played well, even with ten against 11, especially against a team like Real Madrid; it’s going to be difficult, but we did well.
“We will be back!” @JeremyDoku praises your support following our defeat to Real Madrid this evening. pic.twitter.com/vPg74br7sJ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 17, 2026
“We’re disappointed with the loss, but it’s a hard reality. When you experience the games, it doesn’t feel like they were much better than us, even though it looks it from the scoreline.
“It’s a different Real Madrid [compared to the league phase], but every game is different.
“The first leg score made them play a bit more defensively; they didn’t need to score. They’ve always had a great team; we know their quality. I feel like we did well today.
“This campaign will teach us some lessons, we will learn a lot for the future ones. We will analyse the game and see what we can do better, and then look forward to Sunday [EFL Cup final].”
