Manchester City look to keep their Champions League hopes alive as they face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second-leg of a Round of 16 play-off match.
Following on from a sinking defeat courtesy of a last-minute goal at the Etihad Stadium last week, City now look to claw back the deficit with a desperate 3-2 aggregate scoreline currently standing in favour of Real Madrid.
Despite playing well for large periods of time last Tuesday night, the blues just could not see out the victory, with two late goals ultimately costing Manchester City and giving them a momentous task on Wednesday.
The defeat had further consequences for Pep Guardiola’s side, with defender Manuel Akanji suffering an injury which is set to rule him out of action for a sustained period of time and possibly until the end of the season.
Jack Grealish was also forced off in the first-half of the match with a suspected groin injury, but the winger trained on Tuesday of this week ahead of the clash and is now in contention to start for the club.
Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland have all trained ahead of this one, with the latter a possible doubt after suffering from an apparent knee injury in Manchester City’s 4-0 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.
The triumph against Newcastle has breathed some life into the hopes of the City players ahead of Wednesday’s tie, with the blues playing with a rhythm which has not been seen for a large period of this season.
Despite the positive result at the weekend, Pep Guardiola will be under no illusion about the task he has on his hands going into this one, with Manchester City needing to go to the Santiago Bernabeu and win by two goals to overturn the first-leg deficit and advance.
With that being said, here is everything you need to know ahead of Wednesday’s huge clash in the Spanish capital, as Manchester City take on Real Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 play-off match.
Match Details
Manchester City take on Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday 19th February, with kick-off in the Spanish capital scheduled for 20:00 GMT.
Match Officials
UEFA have confirmed that a predominantly Romanian team of officials will take charge of Real Madrid against Manchester City, with the team led by on-field match referee István Kovács.
You can check out the full team of match officials here!
Team News
Oscar Bobb and Rodri remain ruled out for Wednesday night’s clash, with the return date unknown for the pair, while Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland all trained ahead of the clash and are in contention to start.
Jack Grealish has also returned to training and could start having withdrawn from the first-leg clash during the opening exchanges. The England international was named as part of Manchester City’s 22-man travelling squad, which is available in full below.
As for the hosts, David Alaba, Lucas Vasquez and Antonio Rudiger are all in the Real Madrid squad list for the game, after they missed the first-leg through injury. Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao remain out with long-term injuries.
Head-to-Head
Manchester City have won just once in six visits to the Santiago Bernabeu, with a Gabriel Jesus header and Kevin De Bruyne penalty securing a 1-2 victory back in 2020.
The two sides have met in the UEFA Champions League in five of the last six seasons, with Real Madrid being the side that Manchester City have faced the most in the competition.
City have faced Madrid 13 times in the UEFA Champions League, with four victories each and five draws after 90 minutes.
Statistics
Real Madrid’s 3-2 win in the first leg against Manchester City was the 40th time they have won the first leg of a European knockout stage tie away from home – they have progressed from 37 of the previous 39, failing only against Odense Boldklub (1994/95 UEFA Cup) and Ajax (2018/19 UEFA Champions League).
Manchester City’s 3-2 defeat in the first leg was the fifth time they have lost the first leg of a UEFA Champions League knockout stage tie, going on to be eliminated on each of the previous four occasions.
Real Madrid have lost just one of their six UEFA Champions League home games against Manchester City (W3, D2), going down 2-1 in the round of 16 in 2019/20.
Manchester City have lost nine of their 27 UEFA Champions League meetings with Spanish opponents, almost twice as many defeats than against sides from any other nation (5 vs French and German teams). Indeed, their nine losses vs Spanish teams accounts for 28% of their overall defeats in the competition (9/32).
Real Madrid have only failed to score in one of their last 78 UEFA Champions League home games (207 goals scored), doing so in a 3-0 loss to CSKA Moscow in December 2018.
Manchester City conceded 20 shots against Real Madrid in the first-leg last Tuesday, the most that any away team has had at the Etihad Stadium since Pep Guardiola arrived at the club.
In the six matches at the Santiago Bernabeu, Manchester City have only failed to score on one occasion, with a 1-0 defeat in 2016 the last and only time City travelled to the capital and failed to convert.
Manchester City have never lost a game with Wednesday’s referee Istvan Kovacs officiating, while Real Madrid have lost once with the Romanian a charge, a 4-3 defeat to Manchester City back in 2022.
How to Watch
For viewers in the United Kingdom, Wednesday’s match will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1, with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 GMT.
For those in the United States, you can watch the clash live on Paramount+.
You can find full global TV listings for the match here!
City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout Wednesday evening, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!
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