That’s all for tonight. Thanks for your company and emails, goodnight.
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Pep Guardiola's verdict
It’s happened many times this season [giving up a lead]. I know the quality of Real Madrid. They started really well, first 10 minutes, and then we took the game. In the second half we gave away what we had.
[Is the problem psychological?] Just bad decisions, that’s all.
Everyone has to take accountability – I take it. It’s not about you and me, it’s everyone.
It’s tough, but we will recover. We have Newcastle and then we go to the Bernabeu. We know what we have to do; we’ll go there to score goals.
John Stones gives the City reaction
I don’t know how to put it into words straight away – it’s so raw and frustrating for everyone. We’re right in the game until so late and then two… situations that happened and we end up conceding. Yeah, angry and frustrated is all I can say.
I haven’t got the answer. We need to see games out better that’s for sure. The manager said that we need to take accountability for what we do on the pitch. We’ve got to step up when these bad moments happen in games. Today we had a great opportunity to go the Bernabeu 2-1 up, and we’ve come away needing a goal to get level when we go there.
It’s not done, we have to stay positive, which is difficult right now. As the manager says, we’ve got to look at ourselves and hold ourselves accountable. I thought we were right on top in the first half. We knew Madrid would come out fighting in the second half and they did that.
We’ve got to do better, it’s as simple as that. I’m the first one to hold my hands up and look at what I can do better. We’ve got to put this right.
David Hytner’s match report
Jude Bellingham’s reaction
It was a weird one. We played some of our best football of the season and managed to find ourselves behind in the game. I don’t care what form City are in – they’re still an unbelievable team and so difficult to play against, the way they move you and manipulate your position. It’s always really tricky. In the end we finally took our chances.
That’s what’s interesting about these knockout games – you always get ups and downs, it’s not just a technical and tactical battle; it’s psychological as well. It was really important we managed that part of the game.
[On his goal] I just kept running on the off chance Vini might put it wide, which is very rare. I felt that our performance deserved a win.
I thought Tchouameni and Asencio were brilliant. Asencio’s only been in the team for four months and he comes to the Etihad and plays like that.
We’re in a really good position now. It’s always good to take a lead back home.
Clarence Seedorf is discussing City’s slump on Amazon Prime
It costs you so much energy when you’re in a negative cycle. Every opponent now believes they can get something and bring it home, so you have to do so much more physically and mentally. They’re human beings, and you feel it – you don’t have the energy to react.
The frustration for City is that the last two Madrid goals came from fairly basic mistakes. At times tonight City looked pretty good; at others they looked old. Not just in defence either; Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva were sadly ineffective.
Logic says Madrid will finish the job next week. Logic also said City were through to face Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final, so there could yet be a twist. But the frequency with which Madrid opened City up is a huge concern for Pep Guardiola. On the balance of chances, if not necessarily the play, Madrid were deserving winners.
The winning goal I’d like to see a few more replays before concluding who was at fault, whether Kovacic’s pass was short of whether Lewis was caught on his heels. Either way Vinicius – who wouldn’t take no for answer all night - read it superbly and roared through on goal. He should have scored himself but it turned out fine for Madrid.
Full time: Man City 2-3 Real Madrid
We thought it would be dramatic; we had no idea.
Vinicius, who has been sensational, stole a pass from Kovacic that was intended for Lewis and lobbed it into the space behind the defence. He drew Ederson to the edge of the area, then mistimed a lob that was going wide of the far post until Bellingham roared onto the scene to tap it into the empty net. That’s an awful goal to concede, and the timing was even worse.
GOAL! Man City 2-3 Real Madrid (Bellingham 90+2)
Jude Bellingham has landed a shattering blow right at the death!
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90 min Three added minutes.
88 min A weary pass from Stones is cut out by Bellingham, who seems to be fouled just outside the area by Bernardo. The referee waves him up; Bellingham can’t believe it.
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That’s a crushing blow for City. It came from a really poor kick-out from Ederson that didn’t reach the centre circle before being intercepted. Eventually the irrepressible Vinicius Jr moved from left to right and hammered a shot from a tight angle that hit Ederson on the chest at the near post. The ball bounced out in front of goal, where Brahim Diaz was first on the scene, ahead of Kovacic, to bounce a first-time shot into the far corner. That’s a smart reaction finish.
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GOAL! Man City 2-2 Real Madrid (Brahim Diaz 86)
Brahim Diaz equalises against his old club!
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85 min Vinicius tries to run Lewis, who times his tackle excellently and concedes a throw-in.
84 min: Real Madrid substitution Brahim Diaz, once of City, replaces Rodrygo.
84 min: Double substitution for City Ilkay Gundogan and Omar Marmoush replace Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho.
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81 min: Real Madrid substitution Luka Modric, who turns 40 in September, replaces Dani Ceballos.
GOAL! Man City 2-1 Real Madrid (Haaland 80 pen)
Haaland sidefoots the penalty calmly into the bottom-left corner. Courtois went the wrong way but he’d have struggled to save it regardless.
79 min Foden is back on his feet. He’s moving gingerly but looks okay to continue.
78 min Foden is receiving treatment and looks in a fair bit of pain. The penalty stands – it was so close to being outside the area and it’ll doubtless be scrutinised incessantly after the game.
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Foden received a pass from Lewis, zig-zagged into the area and went over after a clumsy challenge from Ceballos. It won’t be overturned unless it’s outside the area. I think it was on the line.
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77 min: Penalty to City!
75 min The referee calls Asencio and Haaland over after a bit of off-the-ball petulance.
75 min City have restored some order after a really tricky spell either side of the goal. This is a big last 15 minutes.
72 min “At a quick glance and from a distance, this looks like an Uruguay v Netherlands World Cup knockout match,” writes Peter Oh. “(Confusingly, Uruguay international Fede Valverde is wearing Oranje, and Dutch defender Nathan Ake is in Celeste.)”
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71 min Bernardo Silva plays a fine pass to the underlapping Rico Lewis, who hammers a cross towards Haaland at the near post. There’s too much pace on it and Haaland doesn’t have time to adjust his body; the ball hits him on the chest and bounces behind for a goalkick.
69 min Savinho wins a corner for City after a good run across the field by Foden. De Bruyne clips it straight into the arms of Courtois.
Right now Madrid are on top.
67 min Mbappe hits the outside of the post, though everyone knew he was offside.
66 min: Another big save by Ederson! Valverde opens City up with a fantasticlow cross, wrapping it around the defence from deep on the touchline. Lewis doesn’t see Bellingham behind him, and Bellingham gallops through to hit a first-time shot from 10 yards. Ederson spreads himself as wide as possible and saves with his left thigh. That’s probably his best save so far.
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64 min Apologies, we’ve been having a few technical problems. It’s still 1-1.
62 min: Man City substitution Mateo Kovacic for Nathan Ake, who presumably can only do an hour. City were planning the substitution before the equaliser. John Stones will move back into defence.
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Valverde took the free-kick, rifling it into the wall. It came back to Ceballos, who clipped a superb early pass over the top. Mbappe, who timed his run perfectly, tried an acrobatic volley from eight yards and made a Hackney Marshes mess of it: the ball hit him on the shin and looped slowly, miserably into the far corner with Ederson wrongfooted.
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GOAL! Man City 1-1 Real Madrid (Mbappe 60)
Kylian Mbappe equalises with a complete miskick!
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59 min Camavinga nicks the ball off Gvardiol and Real Madrid break. Ceballos is tripped 25 yards from goal by Bernardo Silva. This is a chance for Madrid…
57 min Brilliant defending from Gvardiol, who makes a perfectly judged lunging tackle on Mbappe just outside the area. Real come again and Vinicius tries to twist psat Lewis, who also makes a good challenge.
55 min: Fine save by Ederson! Madrid are having one of their spells. Rodrygo gets to the byline and cuts the ball back to Mbappe, whose snapshot is smartly saved at the near post by Ederson.
53 min: Chance for Bellingham! Vincius Jr has his first chance to run at Lewis. He gets to the byline and fires a cross back towards the unmarked Bellingham 10 yards out. Bellingham can’t control a header that drifts comfortably wide of the far post. It looked a tough chance, not least because Vinicius hammered the cross at him.
50 min I suspect both teams wouldn’t be too disappointed if it finished like this. The longer it stays at 1-0, the cagier it will become.
For now, City are on the front foot. Foden, who has looked sharp since coming on, cuts inside and finds Gvardiol, whose long-range shot spins behind for a corner.
48 min “Yes, lovely goal, and all that,” says Matt Dony. “But we don’t spend enough time slaughtering City for the font on the back of their shirts. Absolutely appalling. Fair to say, the worst thing Noel Gallagher has been involved with since Heathen Chemistry.”
Which brings us right back round to Stop Crying Your Heart Out.
Haaland hits the bar!
46 min City almost double their lead after 35 seconds of the second half. De Bruyne, on the right, poked a clever pass into the area towards Haaland. He worked just enough space for a shot from the edge of the area that took a big deflection and hit the face of the crossbar. Courtois wouldn’t have saved it.
46 min Madrid begin the second half.
Another injury for City Rico Lewis is coming on to replace Manuel Akanji, who needed treatment just before half-time and is unable to continue.
“Late in the first half Erling Haaland ran into Clement Turpin and the Norwegian went flying while the referee didn’t budge,” writes Kári Tulinius. “The Frenchman must be made of granite and heft.”
Also, this
Half-time reading
Half time: Manchester City 1-0 Real Madrid
That’s the end of an engrossing first half of the Etihad. It wasn’t quite the slugfest some of us hoped for, but it was compelling throughout. Madrid’s Fab Four opened City up with alarming ease early on, when Ederson saved from Mbappe and Ake cleared off the line from Mendy.
City lived to tell the tale of a lovely team goal, finished off superbly by Haaland after excellent work from Grealish (who later went off injured) and Gvardiol.
45+4 min: Big chance for Mbappe! Rodrygo wanders infield from the right and nutmegs a City defender with a terrific pass that finds Mbappe in space on the left side of the area. He takes a touch and whacks a shot just over the bar with his right foot. He really should have done better.
45+2 min Four minutes of added time. Mbappe’s low shot from 20 yards takes a big deflection off Ake and spins not far wide.
45 min Madrid are starting to stir. Vinicius runs at Akanji and drives an inviting low ball that rolls right across the six-yard box. Mbappe was nowhere to be seen.
If Real Madrid had Micky Quinn up front rather than Kylian Mbappe, they’d be level.
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44 min Bellingham, who is on a yellow card, commits a tactical foul on Savinho near the halfway line. Some referees would have booked him for that.
43 min Real Madrid regain possession. Eventually Valverde moves infield and whips a fine shot from 22 yards that flashes just over the bar. Ederson had it covered, and in fact he may have got a slight touch; Valverde certainly thought so.
42 min A loose touch from Ake allows Rodrygo to nick the ball and move towards the City area. He overhits a fairly straightforward pass to Vinicius Jr, who retrieves the ball near the byline and eventually wins a corner. Haaland heads it away at the near post.
39 min Since that flurry of chances just after the 10th minute, City have been relatively comfortable at the back. I know Vinicius Jr. hit the bar but that was from a speculative (and deflected) shot.
37 min: Akanji hits the bar! De Bruyne clips another teasing near-post corner that is helped on and onto the top of the crossbar by Akanji. Good effort, though I suspect Courtois had it covered.
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36 min It’s all City now. Gvardiol wins the ball in a dangerous area, then Savinho and Bernardo Silva combine to find Haaland on the left side of the area. His shot, which might have been going wide of the far post, deflects behind off the sliding Asencio.
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35 min Foden releases the overlapping De Bruyne, whose low cross is cut out at the near post by Asencio. This is comfortably City’s best spell of the game.
Foden cuts inside from the right and batters a rising drive from 22 yards. Courtois leaps a little dramatically to his right to punch it away. Still a good save mind.
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33 min This is a pretty good spell for City, who have controlled the tempo for the last five minutes or so. Next goal’s a big goal!
31 min Foden has gone to the right wing with Savinho moving to the left.
30 min: Man City substitution Phil Foden replaces Jack Grealish, who walks straight to the dressing-room. That’s such awful luck for a player who has waited all season for a night like this.
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29 min City’s most dangerous attacker, Jack Grealish, is on his haunches and needs treatment. Phil Foden is getting ready to replace him.
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28 min Dani Ceballos shoots optimistically and inaccurately from 25 yards. The attack started with a long diagonal pass out to Vinicius Jr, who has been Madrid’s most dangerous attacker.
26 min Madrid take the corner short to Rodrygo, who nutmegs De Bruyne and has a shot blocked. It’s as open as we expected/hoped.
25 min: Vinicius hits the bar! Vinicius Jr cuts inside from the left, looks for a pass and then curls a surprise shot that deflects off Akanji and onto the top of the crossbar.
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24 min Dias pings a long, straight pass to release De Bruyne in the inside-right channel. He moves into the area and is about to shoot when Raul Asencio (I think) makes a vital lunging challenge. He had to get that right, and he did.
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22 min: Goal given! And it was a beauty. Grealish’s pass, Gvardiol’s chest-off and Haaland’s finish were all immaculate.
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22 min We’re still waiting. It’s normally much quicker than this in Europe.
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21 min: VAR check We’re still waiting. The key is whether Haaland was behind the ball when Gvardiol chested it down.
It was a fine team goal, sparked by the craft and vision of Jack Grealish. Haaland made a channel run on the left and gave the ball back to Grealish, who waited for support from the underlapping Gvardiol and flipped a lovely pass into the area. Gvardiol chested it down to Haaland, who watched the bounce and sidefooted it carefully over Courtois’s left shoulder.
Hang on, there’s a VAR check for offside.
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GOAL! Man City 1-0 Real Madrid (Haaland 19)
Erling Haaland scores his first goal against Real Madrid!
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15 min De Bruyne teases a left-wing corner to the near post. It’s half cleared and slapped over on the bounce by Savinho, 12 yards out. He reached the ball a split-second too late to control the shot.
13 min Madrid are almost in again! This time Vinicius Jr tries to scoot between Akanki and Ake, who do just enough to deny him a shot. Vinicius goes over in the area but there wasn’t enough contact for a penalty.
12 min: Off the line by Ake! Madrid slice City open again, this time with a little scooped pass over a line of defenders on the edge of the box. Mendy and Vinicius Jr. try to walk the ball in until eventually Mendy’s close-range shot is blocked in the six-yard box by Ake. Ederson was out of the game by that point so it was probably a goal-saving block.
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11 min: Good save by Ederson! Madrid are starting to look extremely menacing. Vinicius mutmegs some poor sucker on the halfway line and waves a beautiful pass with the outside of the boot to release Mbappe in the inside-right channel. He charges into the area and drives a low shot that is well held by Ederson, diving to his right.
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10 min Valverde plays Vinicius Jr in behind the City defence. He looks offside but play continues in the modern style. Vinicius goes round Ederson and is fouled – and then the flag goes up. Vinicius was clearly offside. Weirdly he benefitted from a poor first touch; by overrunning the ball he tempted Ederson from his line, then had the pace to reach the ball before Ederson.
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9 min Mbappe has a problem with his boot and is heading off the field to change it.
8 min Vinicius, on the halfway line, spins an interesting ball in behind the defence, and for a split-second it looks like Mbappe might be away. Ruben Dias uses his body to slow him down, allowing Ederson to come out of his area and clear.
7 min Madrid have maded a fairly slow start, happy to take the sting out of the game. Mbappe tries to spin Dias who makes a smart tackle.
5 min Vinicius Jr, whose every touch is being booed because of his Ballon d’Or sulk, is now playing from the left. This is the last time I attempted to do live tactics.
4 min City have had plenty of the ball early on. Stones fires a lovely pass inside Mendy to find De Bruyne, who gets a bit tangled up and concedes a goalkick.
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2 min Grealish drives at the defence and is bundled over just outside the area on the left. Nothing comes of it.
Madrid, since you asked, have started in a 4-4-2 with Bellingham on the left and Mbappe and Vinicius up front.
1 min Peep peep! City kick off from right to left as we watch. Real Madrid are wearing their orange change strip.
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Banner wars/Banter wars
The home fans have unfurled a huge banner of Rodri kissing the Ballon d’Or with the words STOP CRYING YOUR HEART OUT. Those of a certain age and persuasion will remember that this was the BBC’s choice of song for their England-go-out-of-the-World-Cup montage in 2002.
A reminder of the teams
Manchester City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Akanki, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Stones; Bernardo, De Bruyne; Savinho, Haaland, Grealish.
Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Marmoush, Kovacic, Doku, Nico Gonzalez, Gundogan, Nunes, Khusanov, Foden, O’Reilly, Lewis, McAtee.
Real Madrid (possible 4-2-1-3) Courtois; Valverde, Tchouameni, Asencio, Mendy; Ceballos, Camavinga; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Substitutes: Lunin, Modric, Arda Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Fran Garcia, Brahim, Gonzalo, Jacobo Ramon, Chema, Lorenzo Aguado.
Referee Clement Turpin (France).
Manchester City v Real Madrid: the story so far
2012-13 (group stage)
Madrid 3-2 City
City 1-1 Madrid
Madrid qualified and reached the semi-finals; City were eliminated
2015-16 (semi-final)
City 0-0 Madrid
Madrid 1-0 City (agg: 1-0)
2019-20 (last 16)
Madrid 1-2 City
City 2-1 Madrid (agg: 4-2)
2021-22 (semi-final)
City 4-3 Madrid
Madrid 3-1 City (AET; agg: 6-5)
2022-23 (semi-final)
Madrid 1-1 City
City 4-0 Madrid (agg: 5-1)
2023-24 (quarter-final)
Madrid 3-3 City
City 1-1 Madrid (agg: 4-4; pens: 3-4)
In years to come, books will be written about this rivalry. I think I read via Opta that it’s only the fourth time two teams have met in the Champions League in four successive seasons.
The others were Deportivo v Juventus (2000-04), Liverpool v Chelsea (five in a row 2004-09) and Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (2013-17)
Pep Guardiola on Real’s Fab Four: Bellingham, Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr
It’s impossible for 90 minutes, 180 minutes or 200 minutes – depending on extra time – to control these four players. They are exceptional. How they combine, their runs, the ability one‑against‑one, how they keep the ball. So we have to reduce their involvement as much as possible. Knowing that [they will be dangerous at some point] is going to happen, accept it.
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Sid Lowe on Real Madrid’s injury crisis
This is not solely about injuries, though Ancelotti will look at that list and wish they could have been spread around the pitch. He would probably have preferred to lose a forward than rack up all the absentees in defence.
Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham have scored more than 60 goals between them. After a difficult start, Mbappé has been superb – he collected the award for January’s player of the month on Saturday and has 13 goals in 14 games – and Rodrygo has been outstanding, scoring seven and providing four since the turn of the year.
There’s loads more football tonight: Champions League, FA Cup, North & Central America Under-17 World Cup qualification. Michael Butler is across all most of it.
Ruben Dias, Bellingham will miss second leg if booked
The second leg is a week tomorrow in Madrid. City have only one player on a yellow card, Ruben Dias. But Madrid have several: Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Endrick and even Carlo Ancelotti.
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Pep Guardiola’s pre-match thoughts
We’re so excited and happy to be here, to live this experience again. They’re an exceptional team and we need to perform at our best.
[On picking John Stones in midfield] He’s played there many times alongside Rodri. He’s an experienced guy, he’s played really well the last two games.
[On Jack Grealish’s selection] Listen, Jack has had to compete with our wingers but today, with the game we want to play and the movements we need, I decided on him.
[Carlo Ancelotti says he has an emergency in defence…] It’s what we’ve had all season! I understand completely what he means.
[On the threat of Kylian Mbappe] Listen, since I was born in a little town in Catalonia, my country, Real Madrid have always had unbelievable forwards: Cristiano, Bale, Di Maria, Butragueno, Higuain, Arjen Robben. That’s why they’re always up there.
We’ve had a tough season. But in life and in football you always to have to look forward. We still have three or four months ahead of us. What’s happened has happened. Look forward, look ahead. That’s what we’re going to do tonight.
This is the fourth season in a row that Manchester City and Real Madrid have met in the Champions League. In the first three, the victors went on to win the competition.
Man City team news: Ake returns, Foden left out
Some very good news for City: Nathan Ake is fit to start in a defence that looks much more familiar. In fact Pep Guardiola has picked five defenders, which suggests John Stones will be playing in midfield.
Ederson also returns to the side and Jack Grealish starts on the left. Phil Foden is only on the bench. Nico Gonzalez is also among the subs, having recovered from the injury he sustained at Orient. I think that means City are missing only two first-team players, Rodri and Oscar Bobb.
Manchester City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Akanki, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Stones; Bernardo, De Bruyne; Savinho, Haaland, Grealish.
Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Marmoush, Kovacic, Doku, Nico Gonzalez, Gundogan, Nunes, Khusanov, Foden, O’Reilly, Lewis, McAtee.
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Real Madrid team news
Carlo Ancelotti has picked two midfielders, Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, in the back four. There are two changes from the Madrid derby on Saturday: Eduardo Camavinga replaces the injured Lucas Vazquez, with Valverde moving into Vazquez’s position at right-back, and Ferland Mendy is preferred to Fran Garcia at left-back.
Real Madrid (possible 4-2-1-3) Courtois; Valverde, Tchouameni, Asencio, Mendy; Ceballos, Camavinga; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.
Substitutes: Lunin, Modric, Arda Guler, Endrick, Vallejo, Fran Garcia, Brahim, Gonzalo, Jacobo Ramon, Chema, Lorenzo Aguado.
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Preamble
Well well, fancy seeing these two here. Manchester City and Real Madrid usually meet in the later stages of the Champions League, but here they are slumming it in the new playoff round. This, surely, is not what Uefa had in mind when they revamped the Champions League. For neutrals, on the other hand, it’s a mouthwatering prospect, bursting with one of football’s greatest gifts: jeopardy. It’s unthinkable that either City or Madrid will not reach the last 16 of the Champions League. It’s also a certainty.
The last time City failed to make it to the last 16 was in 2012-13, when they were in a group of death with Madrid, Ajax and Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund. The last time Real Madrid failed to do so was in 1996-97, and that was only because they didn’t qualify. The last time they were actually in the European Cup and went out before the last 16 1962-63, Jef Jurion and all that.
The injury crisis at both clubs adds to the sense of wildness around this game. Among Pep Guardiola’s many selection dilemmas is who the flip should play right-back against Vinicius Junior and/or Kylian Mbappe.
Madrid need to find a right-back and two centre-backs. They are without five senior defenders: Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger, Lucas Vasquez and David Alaba.
Frankly, the score could be anything.
Kick off 8pm.
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