Manchester City vs Real Madrid Preview

Real Madrid and Manchester City will renew their European rivalry this Wednesday when they meet at the Etihad Stadium for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.

Both sides played out a classic 3-3 draw in Spain last week with Manchester City twice leading the Spanish giants on the night before going on to draw. The Cityzens will now look to get the job done at home where they have been impeccable since last year.

Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in 41 home games in all competitions and another win will make the Cityzens equal their club record of 42 consecutive home matches undefeated achieved between 1919 and 1921. They’re also aiming to emulate AC Milan as the only previous side to knock Madrid out of the European Cup/Champions League in consecutive seasons.

Confidence should be high especially as they beat Madrid 4-0 here in last season’s semi-final. They also shot to the top of the Premier League table at the weekend thanks to a 5-1 hammering of Luton Town so they will be confident about getting a good result.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid travel to England hoping to beat Man City for the first time in four meetings (D1, L2). Given their recent record against City and City’s imperious form, Los Blancos enter this match as outsiders.

The 14-time UCL winners struggled to beat Mallorca 1-0 at the weekend keeping them top of the league table. The good thing, though, is that manager Carlo Ancelotti rested some key players but even with his strongest available team, this is a tough test as they’ve won just one of the last seven H2Hs (D2, L4).

Ancelotti boldly claimed that his side “aren’t going to win the game through fitness, but through attitude,” making it clear he knows they’ll need more than just fresh legs to reach their fourth straight UCL semi-final. But for all his tough-talking, Madrid’s bogey team stands between them and five consecutive UCL road wins. Los Blancos have never beaten Man City in England losing each of the last three such fixtures.