Real Madrid vs Manchester City. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Real Madrid CF will host Manchester City FC in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, first leg, at Santiago Bernabeu. The fixture will take place on May 10, beginning at 00:30 IST.
What can we expect this Wednesday night? Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.
Real Madrid News & Current Form:
A little more than a year has passed since these teams played at the same stage of the most prestigious club competition on the planet. They gave the fans a magnificent and dramatic display of football. Real Madrid went through and lifted the trophy once again. Few doubt now that the winner of that semi-final will eventually win the tournament, although the Italians will definitely object.
One thing is for sure, Real feel like a fish in water in Europe. Last year, in addition to City, they passed Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and beat another English club, Liverpool, in the final. And now, the same Merseysiders, the same Aristocrats (albeit in a very depressed state) are already behind Los Blancos.
Talking about the domestic championship situation, the Galacticos have suffered two defeats in the last three rounds in the Primera and now chalk it up to seven. In the three previous years, Real Madrid have not lost more than four times per campaign. Not only have the team stopped competing with Barcelona, but they have also lost second place to neighboring Atlético de Madrid. At some other time, there might have been talk of head coach Carlo Ancelotti’s position being very fragile, but not now.
In fact, Los Blancos are in great spirits and condition – they beat Osasuna 2-1 last weekend in the Spanish Cup, which became their sixth trophy in 465 days.
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Rodrygo kisses the club’s logo celebrating the winning goal
The competition has taken them nine years to accomplish. Ancelotti’s side will now turn their attention to the second most important competition of the season, as there is no way they can catch up with FC Barcelona in La Liga (13 points gap). In fact, the defeats to Girona and Real Sociedad are not evidence of weakness, but of a calculated and pragmatic approach by the Madrid side. They are intensively saving their energies for other endeavors, which is exactly UCL.
“Are the players tired? No, we’re fine. We won’t use excuses. You can’t feel tired ahead of a Champions League semi-final.”
says Toni Kroos.
“We are expecting a very strong Man City. They’re playing very well. The defense must be good tomorrow and we have to score goals. We are used to playing games like this.”
The proof is that once it comes to the decisive games, a different team comes into play, going all out to get the result they want. Moreover, Madrid can be down by two goals in a single match, things can go wrong, but then suddenly the team morph and scores five, as it did in the ⅛ finals in Liverpool, the current edition of the tournament.
What’s more, the Champions League campaign has the potential to see another successful outcome, ending with the delivery of another prestigious trophy to the Royal Club’s trophy cabinet. Real Madrid have reached the semi-finals, so the season can no longer be regarded as a failure. Losing to Manchester City would be no shame on the one hand, but on the other, it would still be such a huge spoonful of tar.
Ancelotti has been in the spotlight recently, as there have been a lot of rumours circulating around him, just like there have always been around Real Madrid. Many people in Brazil want to see the Italian specialist at the helm of the national team, and the management of the club are reportedly in talks with Zinedine Zidane. Both Ancelotti himself and the club deny all the rumours, saying it is the intrigues of rivals who want to sow panic on the eve of crucial matches. When it comes down to it, we can see that Real Madrid are indeed oblivious to the rumours. The team’s most recent win to date may not have been the brightest, but it did enable them to clinch a trophy. That’s the kind of attitude the royal club needs to maintain for the upcoming match; there’s no way they can lose at home.
Manchester City News & Current Form:
Manchester City have been neck and neck with Arsenal in the Premier League for a long time. For a while, the gap to the Gunners seemed insurmountable, with Arteta’s side holding on to their lead in the Premiership table for 247 days. However, the Red-and-Whited made a number of unnecessary slip-ups and in late April, in a head-to-head encounter, City managed to crush their main rivals and move ahead in the standings.
Now, City are four points ahead of Arsenal and are on their way to another triumph in England’s top league, something they have plenty of experience in (Liverpool will not lie). The results speak for themselves, 10 wins in a row is simply mind-blowing form. And super-weapon Erling Halaand, who has broken the record for most goals scored in a single season (35 so far) in the Premier League, has been relentless in helping his team-mates turn their combined efforts into goals. Although without him, and without no less important superstar Kevin De Bruyne, a balanced squad full of experienced stars is doing quite well in terms of collecting points, as was shown in the last match against Leeds United, where the game was played by the reserves of Sky Blues (7 changes in the starting line-up). The 32-year-old Ilkay Gündogan (2-1) scored a brace.
The midfielder has joined the club in 2016 and now holds the club’s captaincy
“I said I had the feeling that without him we couldn’t win the Premier League. He’s so intelligent Gundo, so clever and competitive. Under pressure he handles it without a problem. He’s one of the best players I ever trained in my career in terms of the whole package. He’s top, top class.”
says Pep about the German midfielder.
With all that said, there is a good chance of a treble that only Manchester United have managed so far in Foggy Albion. Ironically, the Red Devils will face Guardiola’s side in the FA Cup final. But that game is still a month away, and the treble requires a visit to Real Madrid in another, no less important competition. Perhaps the Champions League may even be safely called the priority for the Citizens.
In general, the Spanish specialist was called to the post of head coach not only for the successes at home, which are already numerous (over the past six years this year Manchester City may become the champion for the fifth time). Another thing is that there have been no successes at all in Europe, apart from reaching the Champions League final. After all, the Citizens are already regarded by many as a super club, but how can they carry this label, if the team have only one victory on the international stage, that’s the UEFA Cup, which they won back in 1970. Can you imagine the burden that hangs on Guardiola… Yet on one side is the pressure, on the other – the best selection of players in the world at the disposal, coupled with a vast amount of coaching experience. The next defeat, however, could be regarded as a total disaster for this side. Therefore, in this tournament, City made their intentions known straight away. They beat Borussia Dortmund in the group, RB Leipzig in the ⅛ finals and, finally, Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals. Manchester City are clearly the stronger side when it comes to German opponents, now we will see what happens against the Spanish team.
“Football is like this sometimes. We played brilliantly for 180 minutes but it is not enough sometimes. The last minutes in that [second] leg, we did not handle it in the right way. It is something we have learned from but I don’t like to talk about the past. We have changed a lot of things.”
says Rodri, CDM of City.
Real Madrid form guide: W-W-L-W-L-W
Manchester City form guide: D-W-W-W-W-W
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Head-To-Head Record:
| Real Madrid | Draw | Manchester City |
| 4 | 2 | 4 |
Six years ago, it was possible to talk about Madrid’s superiority over Manchester City in head-to-head encounters. Since then, however, the English side have won four times in five games. Here are the latest results from the teams’ recent encounters:
- 04.05.2022, Real Madrid v Manchester City 3 – 1 (Champions League);
- 26.04.2022, Manchester City v Real Madrid 4 – 3 (Champions League);
- 07.08.2020, Manchester City v Real Madrid 2 – 1 (Champions League);
- 26.02.2020, Real Madrid v Manchester City 1 – 2 (Champions League);
- 27.07.2017, Manchester City v Real Madrid 4 – 1 (International Champions Cup).
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Predicted XI:
Real Madrid’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
Manchester City’s possible starting lineup (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland.
Statistical preview of the match Real Madrid vs Manchester City:
- Real Madrid have won the UEFA Champions League trophy 14 times to date while also being the reigning champions at the moment.
- Real Madrid’s First XI average age is 29.1 years, and Man City’s – 28.3 yrs.
- The total market value of Real Madrid’s squad is €860.80 m (78.5 billion INR), and Man City’s – €1.05 bn (95.9 billion INR).
- The only defeat for Real Madrid in the current Champions League came against Leipzig in the group stage.
- The top scorer of Los Blancos, Vinicius Júnior, registered 6 goals. The Brazilian forward is also the team’s top assistant in the tournament – accounting for five assists.
- Manchester City finished first in Group G of the Champions League, five points ahead of nearest pursuer Borussia Dortmund. The British team have not suffered a single defeat in the current edition of the tournament.
- Erling Haaland leads the Champions League scoring list with 12 goals.
- Kevin de Bruyne and Joao Cancelo are the team’s top assistants in the tournament, both having four assists.
- City are averaging 2.61 goals per 90 minutes in the league and 2.6 in the Champions League. Real Madrid have 2.09 goals per match in La Liga and 2.5 in the European competition.
- The four previous games between the teams have seen a total of more than 2.5 goals scored.
- Manchester City are unbeaten for 20 matches (in all competitions). 17 of those games have been won by Guardiola’s men.
What has been said before the match:
Real Madrid’s gaffer, Carlo Ancelotti:
“We’re going to compete and fight because we’re so close to another final. We’ll try to do everything we can to play in another final. We’re well up for Tuesday. We know that at the Bernabeu they’ll push us and in the first leg we have the advantage of 12 against 11”
he stated on the weekend.
“Man City may seem unstoppable, but we will have our chances and we can compete. We are not thinking about stopping just one player – they are a team. We want a positive result tomorrow. We don’t want to suffer, we want to play well. The objective is to avoid problems. It will be a demanding match.”
Ancelotti maintained his point on Monday.
“This gives us huge strength, the problem is, they don’t give us any time to rest. I don’t know who sets the calendar but they should really take a look at themselves. It’s unacceptable. I’d like to let whoever is deciding it know, we cannot play with under three days between games. We’ll be tired but we’ll give it everything we have as well.”
said club president Florentino Perez.
“This [Copa Del Rey triumph] gives us real strength. I’m sure that winning today will give us a huge morale boost for Tuesday’s game.”
“I’m sure Guardiola will have watched today’s game, as is his job. He’s a great coach and he has some wonderful players. It will be a hard-fought tie, as ever when two teams come up against each other. I’d dare say they are the two best.”
said Florentino on the upcoming opponent.
Manchester City’s gaffer, Pep Guardiola:
“I want to be honest with you, I didn’t rotate the team because of Real Madrid. I rotated because I felt some players asked me that they are so tired. And the people there tell me these players are so tired. That’s why I did it.”
he said on making seven changes for the clash against Leeds Utd.
“I take the Premier League so, so seriously. In October, November, December you can drop points but now if you drop points the damage is huge.I would be naive to prioritise Real Madrid. We know we have to perform well and we are going to try to do the first leg as best as possible to try to do a good job.”
“We arrive here with encouragement. The way we are playing is really good. We are not here for revenge, just another opportunity. One day we will win it. We come here this season to do it. It didn’t happen last year because we played Real in this competition.” he continued his point in a pre-match interview on Monday.
“Seven years ago we wanted to win the Champions League. Last season it was the end of the world but here we are again. Being stable is the most important thing. The important thing is we are trying to get better every year. We were prepared last year too. We are the same manager, mainly the same players but completely different games. The difference is the second leg is at home.”
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Prediction:
Whatever the outcome, it will be a classy match from every angle. The tactical battle between two сoaching masterminds — Ancelotti and Guardiola.
But it seems that the only chance for Madrid to get a result is to give the ball away, as they normally do in high-profile matches, while also catching their opponents when they make mistakes. Real Madrid are good at that. The team knows how to switch on at the right moments. The 4-0 win over Barcelona was like that. It looks extremely dangerous to play a different kind of football (to be the first violin) against offensively virtuous and clinical Manchester City. That’s the tactic that Ancelotti will probably choose, pragmatism is the way to win in the cup games.
And this practicality is also valid because Real Madrid are one of the best teams in terms of transition from defence to attack, although they are far from perfect in terms of defence. Madrid concede quite a lot (1 goal per match on average; La Liga).
By far Manchester City can be described as the strongest team in the world right now. In the last 16 games they have won 15 times. There is little doubt that City will play from a position of strength to control the game. Real Madrid won’t mind, and the visitors don’t know any other way. However, Manchester City are not immaculate after losing the ball. Defensively, there are defensive lapses. However, Guardiola, understanding the team he is playing against, will place emphasis on that. The Citizens should not leave themselves too exposed.
It may well be a tactical game in which City control the ball and act to seize on their chances. At the same time, Real Madrid will do the same, but without the ball, hoping for Manchester City’s missteps. Still, even despite the home stands factor, City remain favourites to win this game.
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Parimatch News staff prediction:
We say: Man City will not lose and the match total will be less than 4.5 – Yes.