Real Madrid take a trip to the Etihad Stadium on Friday evening to face Premier League side Manchester City in their 2nd round tie of round 16 of the Champions League.
Zidane’s side go into this match playing catchup after suffering a 2-1 defeat at the Bernabéu in the first leg back in February. Following a goalless first half, Madrid’s Isco gave the home side the lead inside the 60th minute which was then matched 18 minutes later by a goal from City’s Gabriel Jesus. City inflicted more misery on Madrid after Daniel Carvajal brought down Daniele Orsato in the box and De Bruyne converted from the spot to make it 2-1.
13-time champions Real Madrid will be looking to build on the success of this season by progressing to the quarter-finals of the tournament but they’re up against a City side who have won 7 consecutive games on home turf and have managed to find the net an impressive 26 times in those games and conceded just one. However, after securing the La Liga title this season, Zidane will have his mind set on achieving another honour with the Champions League. It’s likely that we’ll see a very different side to the one which lost 2-1 back in February with Madrid winning 10 of their final 11 matches in La Liga.
Real Madrid will be without Sergio Ramos after the defender was shown a red card in the 86th minute of the first leg after a poor challenge on Daniele Orsato. Mariano Díaz will also miss the game and Marcelo is looking unlikely to make an appearance.
Gareth Bale would have been looking forward to a return to England on Friday but the Welsh international has been left out of the squad after featuring just twice in Real Madrid’s 11 matches since Spanish football resumed in June.
Manchester City will be without Sergio Agüero due to a knee injury and Benjamin Mendy due to suspension.
The bookies have City as favourites for this match. Not surprisingly based on their home form throughout the season. Manchester City can be back at odds of around 3/4 whereas Real Madrid are outsiders at 18/5.
A draw looks good value at 7/2 as it is all City need to progress but Pep Guardiola’s side have only drawn 3 matches in all competitions since August 2019.
Whichever of the two teams progresses through to the next round will face either Lyon or Juventus in the quarter-finals which is scheduled for Saturday 15th August at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal.
For viewers in the UK, Friday’s match will be televised live on BT Sport 1 with kick-off at 8pm and coverage from 7pm (GMT).
