Who: Manchester City vs Real Madrid
What: Champions League last 16, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England
When: Tuesday at 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Facing down the barrel of UEFA Champions League elimination, Manchester City host Real Madrid just six days after the Spanish giants administered a clinical 3-0 battering of the former Premier League champs in their opening leg of the round of 16 tie at the Bernabeu.
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For Pep Guardiola’s side, it was a night to forget, and City will have it all to do in front of their home fans at Etihad Stadium in the deciding second leg if they want to avoid a repeat of last season’s knockout phase exit at the hands of Los Blancos.
Real Madrid’s hopes of progressing to the quarterfinals will be further bolstered by the likely return to action of superstar Kylian Mbappe, who will travel with the team to Manchester for Tuesday’s crucial clash.
What happened in the last-16 first-leg clash between Real and City?
Federico Valverde struck the first hat-trick of his career as Real Madrid swept aside Manchester City 3-0 in the opener, leaving the Premier League side with a daunting goal deficit before the return leg.
For the Uruguay international – in the absence of injured stars Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo – it was undoubtedly the standout moment of his Real career as he obliterated the short-lived City challenge with goals in the 20th, 27th and 42nd minutes.
How did Real Madrid perform in La Liga on the weekend?
Turkish international Arda Guler scored what must be a strong contender for goal of the season when he audaciously thumped a 65-metre (71-yard) screamer from his own half, and Valverde capped an excellent week with another fine strike as Real Madrid thrashed Elche 4-1 on Saturday in La Liga.
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Los Blancos, who are second in the league standings, remained four points behind leaders Barcelona with 10 rounds left in the domestic season.
Did Man City rebound in the Premier League after their crushing Real Madrid loss?
Manchester City surprisingly lost ground on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly West Ham United, which left them nine points behind the leaders with a game in hand but with just eight matches remaining in the season.
Despite the disappointing result, Guardiola remained defiant, claiming City will not throw in the towel.
“It’s not over. Who said that? We didn’t lose. We will continue,” he said.
“Nine points is a lot against Arsenal, but it happened. We have the game at home, so we have to try until the end.”
Head-to-head
- City and Real have faced each other 16 times with Madrid having the advantage: six wins against five victories for Manchester.
- This is the fifth straight season that these two clubs have met in the Champions League knockout stages.
- Real Madrid knocked City out in the last 16 last season as they did in the 2024 quarterfinals and 2022 semifinals.
- City beat Madrid in the 2023 semifinal en route to lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time.
Manchester City team news
Guardiola has a mostly intact team before the return leg against Real.
Rico Lewis and defender Josko Gvardiol remain unavailable with long-term injuries.
In a boost for City, midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who had spent months on the sidelines with an injury, appeared on the substitutes bench for Saturday’s West Ham fixture and is available to play.
Predicted lineup:
Donnarumma (goalkeeper); Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo, Rodri, O’Reilly; Semenyo, Haaland, Marmoush
Real Madrid team news
Things are looking up for Madrid with talisman Mbappe, who missed the opening leg against City with an ongoing knee injury, expected to travel to England for the knockout tie.
Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said on Friday that he was “confident” that Mbappe will be available to face Manchester City.
“He’s getting better day by day,” Arbeloa said at a news conference. “I’m confident he’ll be on the trip to Manchester.”
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Mbappe, who has scored 38 goals in 33 appearances for Real Madrid across all competitions in the 2025-2026 season, is no certainty to start at Etihad Stadium. With Madrid holding a three-goal advantage from the opener, Arbeloa is more likely to start Gonzalo Garcia up front in his place alongside Vinicius Jr and bring Mbappe off the bench.
In another piece of good news for Arbeloa, key midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who was questionable for this match, is now available for selection.
Regular starters Bellingham and Rodrygo continue to be out as are Edit Militao, Dani Ceballos and David Alaba.
Possible starting XI:
Courtois (goalkeeper); Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen, Rudiger, Fran Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Guler, Vinicius Jr, Gonzalo Garcia
Form Guide
Manchester City: W-D-W-L-D (all competitions, most recent result last)
Real Madrid: W-L-W-W-W
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: aljazeera.com
