Real Madrid host Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie this evening. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are hoping to inflict some revenge on City who defeated them in the semi-finals of this competition last season. Following a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu, City romped to a 4-0 win at the Etihad to take the tie 5-1 on aggregate.
Ancelotti, who will take charge of his 200th Champions League match as a coach, will know that a better result is needed in his team’s home leg if they hope to depose the current European champions though Madrid have only won one of the previous six clashes between the two teams.
In contrast, Pep Guardiola’s men have claimed victory in four of those contests and will be quietly confident of progressing to the next round. However, City have been burned by Los Blancos before. They won the first leg of the team’s 2022 Champions League semi-final 4-3 only for Madrid to eliminate them from the competition with a 3-1 second leg victory in Spain. Like last season, a positive result tonight will be to stay in touch with Madrid’s goal scoring abilities ahead of next week’s clash at the Etihad Stadium.
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Real Madrid vs Man City
With the threats being made against tonight’s Uefa matches, security has been increased at every ground. Here’s a few photos from outside the Bernabeu ahead of kick off.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:37
Champions League ties set to go ahead with Uefa ‘aware of alleged terrorist threats’ from Isis
This week’s Champions League matches are set to take place as planned, with governing body Uefa issuing a statement on Tuesday to insist they are “aware” of threats allegedly being made in the build-up to the four fixtures regarding potential terrorist action.
Images circulating online had suggested that all four stadiums would be targeted across the two nights, with their origins unconfirmed but linked to the established terrorist organisation Isis.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:30
Real Madrid vs Man City
Manchester City’s recent record against Spanish sides is top notch. They have lost only one of their last 12 competition matches against such teams with eight wins and three draws in that run.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:22
Real Madrid starting XI
As is their way, Real Madrid have posted their starting XI early. This is who will play against Manchester City tonight:
Real Madrid XI: Lunin; Carvajal, Tchouameni, Rüdiger, Mendy; Valverde, Kroos, Camavinga, Bellingham; Vinícius, Rodrygo
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:15
Real Madrid vs Man City
Man City finished top of Group G in this season’s Champions League before beating Copenhagen 6-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, also won every game in the group stage, finishing eight points clear at the top of Group C before overcoming Leipzig 2-1 on aggregate in the last 16.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:15
Real Madrid vs Man City
The Spanish side have won 16 of their 19 Champions League quarter-finals – including the last 11 – but face opponents whose 10-game winning run in the competition started with that second-leg success last season.
Can City beat Real once again but this time away from home?
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:07
Real Madrid granted wish to close Bernabeu roof for Manchester City quarter-final
The iconic Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital has been developed in recent years and Real also received permission to close the roof for the second leg of their last-16 tie against RB Leipzig last month.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 18:00
Real Madrid vs Man City
For the third season in a row Real Madrid and Manchester City meet in the latter stages of the Champions League in what will be the sides’ fifth knockout tie in nine seasons.
Madrid ousted City in the semi-finals on their way to a 14th European Cup victory in 2021/22 but Pep Guardiola’s side took their revenge at the same stage last season.
A 4-0 second-leg win in Manchester – Madrid’s record Champions League defeat – earned a place in the final, where City overcame Inter Milan to claim the trophy for the first time.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 17:53
De Bruyne to start?
Kevin De Bruyne is expected to start for Manchester Coty but his presence in the side is not certain.
The Belgian playmaker became the 18th City player to reach 100 goals for the club last weekend with a brace against Crystal Palace and he became the first midfielder to achieve that milestone since club legend Colin Bell 53 years ago.
However, Phil Foden has been in exceptional form through the middle and could start ahead off the 32-year-old.
Mike Jones9 April 2024 17:45
Guardiola on winning Champions League with Man City
In the build up to this game Pep Guardiola took the time to speak with journalists about what it was like for Manchester City to win the Champions League for the first time last season.
“First I would say as a club there was a sense of relief,” he revealed at his pre-match press conference, “We made a lot of good things but always in the press conferences it was ‘you arrived seven years ago but you didn’t win the Champions League, you have to win the Champions League otherwise you would not complete [the job]’.
“Always I tried to reject it because this competition is so difficult. I would say we are a little bit more than one decade flying in Europe. Before we did not fly in Europe.
“Now we are a club who face this type of competition with the best teams of the world. But it is no more than one decade and a decade is not enough. Even now, to compete again, is experience for the future of our club. People say ‘once we have won it, it’s done’ No. Absolutely not.
“It’s not like elite clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, for example, the big, big clubs who for 40, 50, 60, 70 years play in this competition.
“We are, in terms of history, new, but we have a sense of ‘okay, we did it’. And of course if we did it once, we can do it again.”
Mike Jones9 April 2024 17:38