Who: Manchester City vs Real Madrid
What: UEFA Champions League – Knockout phase, first leg
Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
When: Tuesday February 11 at 8pm local time (20:00 GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera’s live text and photo commentary stream of the match.
Real Madrid, the champions of the La Liga, travels to England on Tuesday for a game against struggling Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) home-and-away knockout phase.
Real are a strong favorite to defeat Premier League champions Real, who won both the LaLiga and Champions League titles last year.
It would be premature to overlook City’s chances despite a subpar domestic season so far, when these two world-class players are still pitted against the 15-time UCL champions. These two world football powerhouses enjoy fierce rivalry at the very top of European football.
How bad is Man City currently doing?
Manchester City’s season may have reached a new low on Saturday when they faced English third-tier Leyton Orient with a score of 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round.
As Orient fought back from a 16th minute lead with Jamie Donley’s long-range wonder strike that went in via the crossbar and the back of City keeper Stefan Ortega, it appeared as though an already miserable season was about to turn into a nightmare upset.
The Cityzens held on to advance to the FA Cup quarterfinals after Abdukodir Khusanov scored the equalizer in the 56th minute, followed by Kevin De Bruyne’s winner in the 79th minute.
Man City and Real Madrid meet for the fourth consecutive year in the Champions League, albeit much earlier in the competition because of City residents’ struggles.
After only three of their eight matches, Pep Guardiola’s men finished in the 22nd spot on the UCL league phase table.  , City were comfortably beaten by Sporting Lisbon and Juventus, blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 at home to Feyenoord and conceded four times in the final 35 minutes at Paris Saint-Germain.
What’s the recent form guide on Real Madrid?
Madrid have had a mixed start to the season, which may be Carlo Ancelotti’s last as manager, despite their position at the top of the LaLiga table.
Los Blancos were just two weeks away from winning the Spanish league title, but an unanticipated 1-0 defeat to Espanyol (February 1) and a disappointing, come-from-behind 1-1 home draw against Atletico (February 8) give the defending LaLiga champions a slim one-point lead at the top.
In the Champions League group fixtures, Real Madrid hasn’t performed much better than Man City, winning only five of their eight matches.
The team they replaced as Champions League winners last year, Manchester City, was given the opportunity to reclaim their title after a slow start to the season.
Do you have any issues with injuries going into the playoffs?
Rodri, a key midfielder, will miss the tie despite being selected for City’s Champions League team in the hope that he will recover from an ACL injury before the season is over.
However, the three brand-new players from City, including Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Gonzalez, are free to face the Spanish champions, and they are also benefitted by Jeremy Doku’s return from injury.
Real Madrid have their own injury troubles without defenders Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger.
Possible Lineups:
Manchester City:
Ederson (GK), Nunes, Akanji, Stones, Gvardiol, Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Marmoush, Grealish, Haaland.
Real Madrid:
Courtois (GK), Vazquez, Tchouameni, Asencio, Garcia, Valverde, Modric, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Mbappe, Vini Jr.
Head-to-Head:
- Total matches: 14
- Man City won: 5
- Real Madrid won: 4
- Draws: 5
What transpired at the most recent meeting between these parties?
Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger scored the winning penalty to give his side an edge-of-your-seat 4-3 shootout away victory over holders Manchester City at Etihad Stadium in the 2024 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
In two of the previous three meetings between the teams, Madrid started out as underdogs, were largely outplayed, and then continued to advance at City’s expense.
Source: Aljazeera
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