The Real Madrid vs Manchester City predicted lineups were intriguing to put together as these two heavyweights collide for the fifth-straight season in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds.
MORE — Real Madrid v Manchester City preview, how to watch info
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Real host City in the first leg of their last 16 tie on Wednesday and have massive injury problems in defense and attack as first-year coach Alvaro Arbeloa is going up against the master, Pep Guardiola.
Man City have been far from imperious this season but Guardiola has plenty of players back from injury to give him selection dilemmas (the good kind) galore for this game.
Below we take a look at the Real Madrid vs Manchester City predicted lineups, plus share analysis on the possible XI’s for Arbeola and Guardiola.
Real Madrid predicted lineup
——- Courtois ——-
—- Alexander-Arnold — Rudiger —- Asencio —- Mendy —-
—- Valverde —- Tchouameni — Camavinga —-
—— Guler —— Garcia —- Vinicius Junior ——
Given all of their injury problems the back four pretty much picks itself at this point. Trent Alexander-Arnold knows Manchester City inside out and that knowledge could be very valuable for Real as he will start at right back. Dean Huijsen could start but it’s likely Raul Asencio and the hugely experienced Antonio Rudiger will start at center back. In midfield the two-way workhorse Federico Valverde will start on the right of a three to give Trent more license to roam forward. Arda Guler is likely to start on the right side of attacking midfield with Jude Bellingham out injured. Guler is really developing into a fine playmaker and will look to dictate the tempo of the game and cut inside. Eduardo Camavinga will likely start on the left of the midfield trio but will tuck inside on the other flank to provide extra cover when needed. Up top youngster Gonzalo Garcia will lead the line if superstar Kylian Mbappe isn’t fit to go, with Vinicius Junior given a free role to buzz around and cause chaos off the left. This is a huge game for the Brazilian to stand up in Mbappe’s likely absence.
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Manchester City predicted lineup
——- Donnarumma ——-
—- Nunes —- Dias —- Guehi —- Ait-Nouri —-
—— Rodri —— Bernardo Silva ——
—- Semenyo — Cherki —- O’Reilly —-
——- Haaland ——-
City’s back four is pretty much set in stone at this point with the only real change potentially being the fit-again John Stones coming in at some point, but for who? Nico O’Reilly could play at left back but now Rayan Ait-Nouri’s injuries are behind him, O’Reilly has been deployed further forward in his more natural position. In midfield the experienced duo of Rodri and Bernardo Silva will lock things down and that allows Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and O’Reilly to maraud forward in support of Erling Haaland. Having Phil Foden, Omar Marmoush, Jeremy Doku and Savinho to bring off the bench and impact the game in attack is quite something and Guardiola now has so many options as injuries have calmed down.
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