Man City vs Real Madrid preview, prediction, team news, and head-to-head

Pep's Man City failed to get past Real Madrid last season, and results from the first leg show that the possibility of progressing to the next stage of the competition looks slim for the English side.

Recent results have not been so good for Manchester City as the English giant suffered a back-to-back winless run. The Citizens were embarrassed 3-0 last Wednesday in the UCL before securing a 1-1 draw against West Ham on the weekend.

City's manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that overturning a 3-0 deficit is not an easy task, but he expects his boys to take every available chance they get when they play in front of their home fans. This means that the English side will have to start getting goals right from the first half.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have been consistent in their last four matches with a comfortable 3-0 lead against City in the first leg of the round of 16. The Spanish giants also hammered Elche 4-1 on the weekend to show they are ready to put up a show at the Etihad.

The meeting between Man City and Real Madrid is becoming very regular and almost a sure thing to happen in the UCL every season. In their last 5 meetings, the 15-times champions league winners have 3 wins while the English side managed 1 win and 1 draw.

Real Madrid have also eliminated Man City in the last two consecutive seasons, including a home and away wins last season.

Heading into the second leg of this UCL match, Pep still has a few injury concerns, including Josko Gvardiol and Rico Lewis. The manager will be delighted with the return of Mateo Kovacic, who has the pass to feature in the match.

Pep will rely on the creativity of his wingers, Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku, and Rayan Cherki, to create scoring opportunities for Erling Haaland as they look to score plenty of goals.

Despite facing more injury crises, Madrid were still able to get the needed results in the first leg of this tie. While Rodrygo remains sidelined with a long-term injury, Bellingham and Alaba are also unavailable for this clash.

Kylian Mbappe may be available for this fixture even though he will start from the bench and possibly only play for a few minutes.

Man City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo, Rodri, O’Reilly; Semenyo, Haaland, Cherki

Real Madrid: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen, Rudiger, Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Diaz, Guler, Vinicius Jr

Man City vs Real Madrid prediction and betting tips

Playing at the Etihad Stadium gives Man City the advantage and edge to win this clash. However, I'm not seeing the possibility of overturning the 3 goals deficit. It's almost impossible for Real Madrid not to get at least a goal in this match.

So we say Man City will win this fixture, but Real Madrid will qualify to the next round on a superior aggregate.

Predictions: Man City 2-1 Real Madrid

• Manchester City to win

• Over 2.5 goals

• Both teams to score - Yes