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Man City just ‘broke’ Man Utd’s Champions League record – because Uefa don’t count losing on penalties

City’s victory over Sparta Prague means they have gone 26 matches unbeaten – but only because Uefa disregard last season’s quarter-final

Manchester City have been declared as new record holders by Uefa for the longest unbeaten run in the Champions League – despite getting knocked out of the competition by Real Madrid last season.
The competition organisers count last season’s quarter-final defeat on penalties as a draw in the record books as the two-leg contest finished 1-1 at the final whistle and went to a shootout, meaning City lost their European crown but were still classed as “unbeaten”.
That means Pep Guardiola’s side eclipse the previous record, set by Manchester United, whose run of 25 matches unbeaten in the Champions League was set under Sir Alex Ferguson between 2007 and 2009, when the reigning European champions were finally defeated by Barcelona in the final in Rome.
Having won the Treble in the 2022-23 campaign, Pep Guardiola’s team were last beaten in a Uefa match by Madrid in 2022, when they lost 3-1 at Santiago Bernabéu in a thrilling match that went into extra-time. They have gone 26 matches ‘unbeaten’ since.
Uefa have also declared City as record holders of the longest unbeaten run in all of their tournaments, taking into account matches in the Super Cup and also Espanyol’s run in the Europa League.
“With tonight’s victory, Manchester City have set a new Uefa competition matches record of 27 games unbeaten,” read the report on Uefa’s website. “This passes Espanyol’s previous mark of 26, achieved between 2006 and 2019, with City having last been beaten in a Uefa fixture by Real Madrid in May 2022.”
City never looked like losing against Sparta Prague, after Phil Foden gave them a third minute lead, Erling Haaland scored twice, while John Stones and Matheus Nunes added other goals.
“I enjoy a lot the way we are playing lately,” said Guardiola. “Not the second half against Fulham but in general I’m so pleased. We concede few chances, of course we concede goals but the chances we concede lately are not relevant and we created a lot.
“The finishing of the game with 11 players in the 18 yard box was not easy and we had to be so patient. I know people will say 5-0 is so easy but they were good opponents.”

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