Kyle Walker MCFC Man City
Kyle Walker Man City England

Man City take on Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, the 1st leg of which will be played at the Etihad Stadium this week.

Pep Guardiola’s side are one of the favourites to become the kings of Europe but Real Madrid are a force to reckon with, especially in the Champions League.

Manchester City have won the previous three matches against Real Madrid and the kind of form that City are in this season, they should be able to nick this one if they can dig deep. Man City have kept a clean sheet in their last four matches and this will be a key factor going into Tuesday’s match.

This will be the seventh time these two sides will be facing off against each other in the Champions League and the tables are very evenly balanced with City winning two, Real Madrid winning two and the other two ending in draws.

Manchester City’s team news vs Real Madrid:

DEFENCE:

Kyle Walker and John Stones are doubts for Tuesday’s game and both of them will be touch and go for the 1st leg.

This is a massive issue because Joao Cancelo will also be unavailable due to suspension so if Walker is not ready then Nathan Ake and Zinchenko will have to play as the two first-choice full-backs. Guardiola will be keeping his fingers crossed because if Walker misses out then the backline will be really fragile on Tuesday night.

Stones’ injury will not be too big a concern since the Man City manager has two very solid central defenders in the form of Laporte and Ruben Dias.

MIDFIELD:

The Man City manager opted for a change in formation against Watford and this helped him rest several of his midfielders before the Real Madrid tie.

Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden were also rested but at least two of them will be coming back into the starting XI. Rodri and Fernandinho both started vs Watford but the latter will move to the bench.

Gundogan will come back into midfield while Kevin De Bruyne will hold onto his place from the Watford game.

ATTACK:

Riyad Mahrez came off the bench during the weekend so he will be back in the side along with Phil Foden who will play as the false nine.

The selection of Mahrez and Foden will mean Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus will both drop to the bench. Jesus scored four goals and provided one assist vs the Hornets but there’s no way Pep Guardiola will be using the Brazilian against Real Madrid.

Man City predicted line up vs Real Madrid:

Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Ederson; Laporte, Ruben Dias, Zinchenko, Nathan Ake; Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Rodri; Sterling, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez.

Man City predicted line up vs Real Madrid-2022-UCL

 

Read: Man City vs Real Madrid – Preview, injuries, kick-off details, odds

Stats via Fotmob.