The State of Play
Both Arsenal and Liverpool lost at home in the Premier League which means Manchester City are currently sitting at the top-of-the-table after they hammered Luton Town by five goals to one at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens are on the hunt for a potential ‘double treble’ with an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium coming up this weekend.
Carlo Ancelotti has cultivated a classic Real Madrid side and atmosphere this season with Los Blancos so difficult to beat and experts at grinding out victories or results. They did that in the first-leg when they equalised in the 79th minute via Fede Valverde to share a 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu and followed that up by edging past Real Mallorca in the Balearic Islands at the weekend via a 48th minute Aurelien Tchouameni winner.
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Team News
Kyle Walker may be able to play some of this second-leg, which will be crucial after his success against Vinicius Junior last season. Ederson is expected to return to the starting eleven after Stefan Ortega played at the Bernabeu.
In the second minute of the first-leg, Aurelien Tchouameni was booked for a tackle on Jack Grealish and the Frenchman is now suspended. Both Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba are unavailable, too, as they are out injured.
Expected Line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson; Akanji, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri; Foden, De Bruyne, Silva, Grealish; Haaland
Real Madrid: Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy; Kroos; Valverde, Camavinga; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior
What they Said
Pep Guardiola has said that Kyle Walker may well be available for this week saying he could play ‘some minutes’ but the former Bayern Munich boss has said that he will be cautious so he isn’t ‘out for longer’.
Carlo Ancelotti defended Jude Bellingham from recent criticism. “What’s dropped off is Bellingham’s goals. They were a surprise for everyone, scoring 20 goals. Now he’s doing his job. He’s an attacking midfielder, a playmaker. He isn’t a centre forward. The goals have dropped off a bit but his performance hasn’t.”
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Etihad Stadium and will kick off at 20:00 on Wednesday April 17th. It will be televised live on TNT Sports in the UK and will also be able to be streamed live via the TNT Sports app in the UK.
Prediction
In 2022, Manchester City edged past Real Madrid by four goals to three in the semi-finals of this competition before dramatic late turnaround saw Los Blancos win at the Bernabeu a week later. In the semis last year, though, City got a draw in the Spanish capital before hammering Madrid by four goals to nil at the Etihad. In the recently released Netflix documentary about City’s treble win last season, Guardiola was recorded discussing the importance of the second-legs being at home. Carlo Ancelotti has insisted his Madrid side will have more about them this time around and it is very unlikely they are blown away again, especially given the fact they have lost just twice this season and both of those losses came at the Metropolitano against city rivals Atletico. City may well indeed remain favourites but a high-scoring affair in which both teams score seems very likely.
