Manchester City gear up to host their first ever UEFA Champions League semi final match at the Etihad Stadium, but they come against La Liga giants Real Madrid in a high profile clash.
The open brawl between the top teams in Europe has ended, and out of 32, only four remain. The best of the best, one of these four will take home the UEFA Champions League trophy. While the two Madrid clubs and Bayern Munich have been here before, Manchester City find themselves in the historic situation of being in their first semi-finals and have the opportunity to make it an even bigger achievement than it already is by moving on to the final.
Tem-time winners Real Madrid will have something to say about that though, as Ronaldo, Bale and co. look to continue their domination and send City packing.
Lineups:
Manchester City
The Citizens will be without midfielders Fernando and Yaya Toure. Toure played the full game against Stoke even though he was suffering from a hamstring problem and could be out for the remainder of the season. However, they will be boosted by the return of Raheem Sterling and captain Vincent Kompany.
Starting XI:- Hart, Kolarov, Otamendi, Kompany, Sagna, Fernandinho, Delph, Sterling, De Bruyne, Silva, Aguero
Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped from the team that beat Rayo Vallecano over the weekend because of a thigh strain, but is expected to start against Man City. Karim Benzema remains a doubt though, and will face a late fitness test to see if he can make the starting eleven.
Starting XI:- Navas, Marcelo, Ramos, Pepe, Carvajal, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema
Stats:
- The two teams met each other in the 2012-13 Champions League group stages where Real Madrid won 3-2 at the Bernabeu before a 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium.
- Man City are the only team left in the top four who average under 50% possession in the Champions League this season (48.6%).
- Los Blancos have reached the semi finals of the Champions League for the sixth consecutive season.
- Manchester City have only won one of their four home games in the knockout stages of the Champions League, losing two and drawing one.
- The Citizens have kept only one clean sheet in their 10 Champions League games against Spanish opposition.
Prediction:
Manchester City 2-2 Real Madrid
Both teams like to attack and it’ll definitely be a free-for-all at the Etihad Stadium with lots of goals on offer. Manchester City will be depending on their combination of Kevin and Kun to counter whatever BBC throws at them, and at least four or five goals seem to be on the cards.
Both Real and City have suspect defences, but the latter may be boosted by the return of captain Vincent Kompany.
Odds:
Manchester City – 2/1
Draw – 12/5
Real Madrid – 7/5
(via: Paddy Power)