The Champions League returns this week, as the quarterfinals get underway across Europe. For the third straight season, Manchester City and Real Madrid will collide in the competition, meaning that only one of the European giants will be able to progress through to the next round and a chance at reaching the final of the Champions League.
Champions League Preview
Manchester City and Real Madrid have become extremely familiar with each other over the last couple of seasons, as they will collide in the knockout stage of the competition for the third straight campaign. The sides have met in the semi-final stage in each of the previous two seasons, with a total of 17 goals scored across the previous four encounters,
Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti are the two most successful managers in the history of the Champions League in terms of victories, with the Real Madrid boss having landed just four more wins than his City counterpart. The Spanish team’s coach also holds a narrow advantage based on recent meetings in the knockout stage, with Ancelotti’s team progressing in two of the previous three meetings.
However, Guardiola has enjoyed an excellent recent record against sides managed by Ancelotti after losing just once in the last eight across all competitions. Guardiola has recorded six wins over that period, which marks a clear improvement in his fortunes after losing the first two meetings with the Italian.
City’s dominant record in the Champions League this season has showed no recent signs of coming to an end, with the reigning European champions having recorded victories in each of their last ten matches in the competition. In fact, only Bayern Munich have managed to record more successive victories than City. City are also on the second-longest unbeaten sequence in the competition after going 21 without defeat.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Head to Head
City progressed from the semi-final tie between these sides last term, with Madrid landing victory in the 2021-22 season. However, Los Blancos have recorded just a single win from their last six Champions League matches against City, losing on four occasions.
Meanwhile, the Spanish giants have conceded an average of 1.7 goals per game against their rivals, which is their worst defensive record against a single side in the Champions League.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Team News
Thibaut Courtois remains the big player missing for Madrid at this stage of the season, with the goalkeeper unlikely to return until at least the start of May.
Josko Gvardiol is a doubt for this fixture for City after limping off over the weekend against Crystal Palace. That could create some defensive issues for the reigning champions, as they are also without Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker this week.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Prediction
This should be another really exciting clash between these two talented teams, and it could have feasibly been the Champions League final this term. City have huge defensive injuries that they will need to deal with in this fixture, and for that reason, we could see Real creating no shortage of chances.
Vinicius Jr looks set to be one of their most dangerous players this week, but Jude Bellingham could be the man that City will need to keep quiet. Therefore, we will be siding with Real Madrid landing a first leg advantage in this showdown on Tuesday, and we could see them achieving that advantage by landing a 3-1 home success against the reigning Premier League champions.
Make sure to bet on Real Madrid vs Manchester City with 22Bet!
Bet here
