Who: Real Madrid vs Manchester City
Contents: Champions League last 16, first leg
Location: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain
Date and time: Wednesday 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 17:00 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
Real Madrid, who have won a record 15 times, rarely enter Champions League competition as underdogs, but this was the situation when Manchester City visited the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday.
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With key attackers Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo expected to miss the game due to injury, coach Alvaro Arbeloa’s side are in unstable form, leaving the Premier League team tied for the last 16 as solid favorites for the title.
Man City beat Madrid in the league in the Spanish capital and have since strengthened with the arrivals of Antoine Semenho and Marc Guehi, while midfielder Rodri is back to form after a long spell out with injury.
Both clubs are certainly familiar. In the 15 meetings between the two sides, there have been five wins and five draws each.
Including the next two games, this game becomes the third most played game in the history of the tournament.
Arbeloa urges fans to support Madrid
Xabi Alonso was in charge of Madrid when the two clubs last met in December, but his successor has not improved the quality or consistency of the team’s play.
Perhaps Arbeloa’s biggest success has been in helping winger Vinicius Junior regain his form, with the Brazilian representing Real Madrid’s biggest hope for success against City.
The winger was the driving force behind Madrid’s victory over Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in the play-off round despite allegations of racial abuse from Benfica manager Gianluca Prestiani in the first leg, which Prestiani denies.
Vinicius said on Friday after the La Liga win over Celta Vigo that he felt “a little tired” as the team continued to rely on him in recent games. They needed a deflected goal from Federico Valverde in the 95th minute to secure a 2-1 win against Celta.
Arbeloa called on Madrid supporters, who have been critical of their own players this season, to encourage their team against City.
“We need them. We need them on Wednesday. They know that better than anyone,” Arbeloa said.
“Today is Champions League night and we are up against a very formidable opponent, one of the biggest clubs in football at the moment.
“When we play at home, we know that we are much stronger with the Madrid fans on our side.”
Madrid emphasizes “fighting until the end”
Even if they would never admit it, this may be the game in which Madrid are least confident going into a knockout tie against City so far.
“Real Madrid is about fighting until the end and believing,” Arbeloa said after beating Celta.
“Yes, there were a lot of things we could have done better, but with the personality and character we showed, I hope this is a turning point and everything goes better from here.”
Haaland adjusting his pace before heading to Madrid
Erling Haaland is expected to return to Real Madrid for City’s Champions League trip after a weekend of training and working on his pace.
The Norwegian striker did not travel to City’s FA Cup fifth round win against Newcastle on Saturday as manager Josep Guardiola rotated his squad.
This is Haaland’s second absence in three games, having missed last weekend’s Premier League win against Leeds due to a knock.
Guardiola said: “We didn’t intend to let him play. We want him to train to find a rhythm.”
“After the injury, when he drops off, he always has a little bit of trouble keeping up real real pace.”
What happened the last time the two clubs met?
Nico O’Reilly’s opportunity attack and Haaland’s penalty helped City fight back to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a tense Champions League match at the Santiago Bernabéu on 10 December.
City looked in danger almost every time Madrid went forward in the first 30 minutes, but Rodrigo opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a low shot off the counter.
However, Madrid hit the self-destruct button. First, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spilled a relatively easy header from Josko Gvardiol, and O’Reilly converted the rebound in the 35th minute.
Eight minutes later, defender Antonio Rudiger forced Haaland to the ground as he attempted to meet a cross inside the 5.5-metre (6-yard) box, conceding a penalty, which the Norwegian striker earned to seal victory.
direct confrontation
These familiar foes will face each other in the Champions League final for the fourth consecutive season.
Real Madrid eliminated City in the last 16 last season, in the quarter-finals in 2024 and in the semi-finals in 2022.
City won the Champions League trophy for the first time in 2023, defeating Madrid in the semi-finals.
Real Madrid team news
Star striker Mbappe is expected to miss out as he continues to battle a knee injury, with Gonzalo Garcia set to start in his place alongside Vinicius Junior.
Madrid said in a statement on Monday that defender Alvaro Carreras would also be out with a calf injury, but did not specify how long he would be out.
Rodrigo will be sidelined after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in last week’s game against Getafe.
Bellingham, Dani Ceballos and Eder Militão are also ruled out through injury, while David Alaba and Eduardo Camavinga are doubtful.
Vinicius Jr., Aurelian Choameni, Alvaro Carreras and Dean Huisen are all close to being suspended for one yellow card, so it will be important to keep an eye on their future developments.
Expected starting lineup:
Courtois (goalkeeper); Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Asensio, Mendy. Choameni; Camavinga, Valverde. Gular; Vinicius Jr., Gonzalo Garcia
City team news
Rico Luiz has missed the last four games due to injury and Guardiola said he was unlikely to play against Madrid.
“He has a problem with his ankle and it’s a bit swollen, but he’s almost recovered,” the City manager said.
Midfielder Mateo Kovacic and defender Gvardiol remain sidelined with long-term injuries, but Guardiola said he expected both players to return by the end of the season.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, Rodri and Bernardo Silva were all rested over the weekend and are likely to start against Madrid.
Expected lineup:
Donnarumma (goalkeeper); Nunez, Dias, Guehi, Aito Nouri. Bernardo, Rodri, O’Reilly. Semenyo, Haaland, Marmush
