Tuesday 26th April 2016 Kickoff 1945hrs
Manchester City v Real Madrid
Football – Champions League – Europe
Now we have reached the last four of this year’s Champions League, the stakes are getting to their highest they have possibly ever been for Manchester City and their supporters. This is old hat for their opponents Real Madrid of, course, who are looking to add to their record of 10 European Cups which makes the next two games all the more fascinating starting with the first leg at the Etihad on Tuesday night.
Although City have won a couple of league titles among some other domestic honours over the last five years, they have yet to experience anything like the prestige or pressure that comes with playing at this stage of European club football’s premier competition. To their credit, their Champions League campaign has seen them go from strength to strength and in the last round against PSG, Manuel Pellegrini’s men were in complete control in the second-leg – even being able to afford to miss a first-half penalty. It was the type of mature performance that has been missing from City’s participation in previous seasons but it’s also one that they will have to improve on if they are to see off the giants of Madrid. One major change in recent games is how much better defensively they have been, keeping clean sheets in both of their knockout stage games against Dynamo Kiev and the French Champions. That may seem rather insignificant but when you factor in that City conceded in their last 14 home games in the competition before that, it’s a marked improvement. Whether or not they are able to keep this opponent at bay is another matter altogether, but they do at least have something to build on.
It wasn’t so long ago that this season looked to be a write-off for Real Madrid as they trailed Barcelona by double figures in the race for La Liga and performances in Europe were well below the level required to win this. Fast forward to now and Zinedine Zidane’s charges have cut the gap between themselves and their arch rivals to a point with three games to go, and following the current European champions’ exit in the last round, Real are now in with a great chance to reign supreme once again at the top table. It’s been a pretty remarkable turnaround but it would be foolish to think that they are completely transformed, as demonstrated with the weekend’s match with Rayo Vallecano. The defensive frailties that have blighted them so often this season came back to the fore in the first half as they were two goals down to their capital rivals. Only a terrific second half salvage prevented them from suffering a rather embarrassing and anti-climatic end to their title challenge, having only reignited it at the beginning of this month. Zidane will be conscious that his team can ill-afford to make the same mistakes against City who are unlikely to be as naive.
As has been the story of the season for Pellegrini, there is mixed news on the injury front as City prepare to welcome Real Madrid. Yaya Toure will be missing having picked up a knock against Stoke on Saturday and despite certain limitations in the defensive aspect of his game, his experience would be invaluable against a team he knows extremely well. On a more positive note, captain Vincent Kompany has not suffered any aggravation of his own injury and will almost certainly take his place in the heart of the defence. His presence as much as his own ability will be a great asset in what is new territory for the majority of this squad. Pellegrini will also be hoping to finish on a high before leaving the club at the end of the summer and making amends for a semi-final exit against Arsenal when manager of Villareal in 2006.
Zidane has his own injury concerns to worry about, namely Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. It goes without saying how important the two are to Real’s attack but the word coming out of the Real camp is that the two should play and form the infamous B B C with Gareth Bale. The Welshman has only recently returned to full-fitness himself but he’s finding his best form at just the right time, scoring twice in the comeback win against Rayo. The trio have combined for 92 goals in 102 games this season, which has been interrupted with relatively long-term injuries for both Bale and Benzema. Their record in the Champions League is equally impressive, scoring 20 goals in 22 games. The threat they pose is obvious, and attempting to dilute it is one of the hardest things in world football.
Manchester City v Real Madrid betting tips
It’s difficult not to get excited about this match-up such is the clash of styles and what is at stake. Despite both teams capable of scoring at will when on top form, they do so in very different ways so both matches promise to be full of excitement and key battles. Man City are undoubtedly the underdogs but they will take confidence both from their own performances against PSG (who ran Real Madrid close in the group stage) but also the fact that Wolfsburg were able to get the better of Zidane’s men in the first-leg played in Germany. City are a better outfit than the Bundesliga club and will have watched that tape with a lot of interest.
Real Madrid lost at the same stage to Juventus last season and whilst I would favour them to go through over the two legs, I definitely think that City have a chance, but they almost certainly have to take a lead with them to the Spanish capital next week. Key to any potential success is, as always, Sergio Aguero who is if course a former Atletico Madrid player, so he will have as much motivation as anybody to put one over on Real. There may well be a few goals over the two ties but the value play in the first leg is a home win.
Manchester City 2/1 @ Bet365
