The State of Play
Real Madrid have enjoyed a really impressive season as they seek a 15th European title. Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos have suffered just two defeats all season with those two losses both coming against Atletico Madrid in La Liga and the Copa del Rey. They are sitting comfortably at the top-of-the-table in the league and should also be fresh after not playing this weekend with Spain focusing on the final of the cup between Athletic and Mallorca.
Manchester City kept themselves in the Premier League title race at the weekend as they came from behind to defeat Crystal Palace by four goals to two at Selhurst Park. Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens have been some way off their fluent best this season but, like last year, could well be timing their run to becoming their ‘peak’ selves just at the right moment as we enter the run in.
Read our other football news stories here:
Real Madrid v Manchester City: Ancelotti plays down Guardiola’s injury woes
UEFA to consider increasing squad sizes for Euro 2024
Cristiano Ronaldo: Jorge Jesus sticks up for former Real Madrid star after red card
Team News
Real Madrid have been dealing with a really long injury list throughout the campaign but Los Blancos are now down to just two absentees as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remains unavailable, as does David Alaba.
Manchester City are not expected to welcome Kyle Walker back for this first-leg and Josko Gvardiol is also a doubt but Ederson should return to the starting eleven. Nathan Ake is also still unavailable through injury.
Expected Line-ups
Real Madrid: Lunin; Carvajal, Eder Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Tchouameni; Kroos, Camavinga; Bellingham; Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo
Manchester City: Ederson; Akanji, Stones, Ruben Dias, Lewis; Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Foden, De Bruyne, Doku; Haaland
What they Said
In the build-up to this quarter-final, Carlo Ancelotti criticised Real Madrid’s semi-final defeat against the same opposition. “Last season against Manchester City, we played without courage and without personality.”
Pep Guardiola has discussed the idea of perfection for City for the rest of the season and has said ‘there is no room for error’ in the final month and a half or so of this campaign.
When and How to Watch
This match takes place at the Santiago de Bernabeu in Madrid at 20:00 on Tuesday April 9th and will be televised live on TNT Sports in the UK. It will also be streamed live via the TNT Sports app in the UK, too.
Prediction
Real Madrid were blown away in the second-leg of their semi-final at the Etihad Stadium last season and that is expected to mean a more aggressive and front foot performance in the first-leg of this quarter-final tie, especially playing at the Bernabeu. Manchester City have defensive injuries and have been susceptible at the back anyway but they remain relentless in attack and a high-scoring, fun game for the neutral in which both teams score seems a good bet for this one.
