By Robert Wheeler
- Manchester City play Real Madrid
- The Bernabeu will host the first leg
- The other tie sees Inter face Milan
MADRID, SPAIN – Manchester City face Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
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Real Madrid vs Man City, Tuesday May 9, kick-off 20:00
Manchester City was knocked out by Real Madrid at this stage of the competition last season, so Pep Guardiola‘s side will be looking to make sure lightning does not strike twice. City thought they were through to the final but late goals from Rodrygo and Karim Benzema sent Los Blancos to the final where they defeated Liverpool in Paris.
Many thought that if Guardiola’s side had a centre-forward, they would have defeated Madrid last season. Now they have Erling Haaland -who is the competition’s top goalscorer this season- we have a chance to see if they can defeat Carlo Ancelotti‘s side.
City looks to have the Premier League wrapped up if they win all their remaining games. They go into this fixture on the back of five straight victories in all competitions. However, their last match against Leeds United was unexpectedly tense in the final stages, after Haaland had let Ilkay Gundogan take their penalty which the German missed. Guardiola criticised Haaland for being too nice, by allowing his teammate to take the spot-kick. City cannot afford to be nice against Real Madrid.
Ancelotti’s side goes into this game, having won a trophy last time out. Madrid defeated Osasuna 2-1 in the final of the Copa del Rey. Rodrygo -whose goals haunted City last season- scored twice at the Estadio de La Cartuja. Despite winning Spain’s domestic cup competition, this will not satisfy the Madrid supporters, who demand winning La Liga or the Champions League each season. Ancelotti has recently been linked with taking over the Brazil national team but if he wins European football’s premier competition, then he may be allowed to stay at the Bernabeu.
Madrid also looks to beat City to the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham. Guardiola’s side may be losing that transfer battle but they will be vying to make sure they win the war on the pitch. The Champions League is the only competition that eludes City, but if they can get past Madrid, they will be the favourites for this year’s title.
City’s Bernardo Silva is confident his side can get through to the final and was quoted in the Manchester Evening News saying “Why should we fear them? We’ll try to keep the momentum we’ve built over two months to arrive very confident to beat them, knowing they won the Champions League last season for a reason.”
The newspaper also reported that Guardiola is confident his side can do the treble this year “We’re not going to lie, this is definitely a competition we want because it’s the only one we haven’t won yet, we’re in a very good position to be fighting for all three trophies. The FA Cup final is a derby, it would be lovely for our fans. Then the Champions League is a trophy we’d really love, and the Premier League would be five in six years and we would go down in history.”
Score prediction: Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City
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