Real Madrid vs. Manchester City: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Real Madrid vs. Manchester City: Yeah that one. It's still on, remember?
It speaks of the magnitude of what has transpired in world football this week that the second leg of Madrid and City's semi-final clash in the UEFA Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night has almost felt like an afterthought in recent days.
On Monday, we were propelled into a footballing landscape in which Leicester City are now Premier League title winners, and in which everything suddenly looks very different from what we've known.
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And everyone is transfixed.
In England, of course, Leicester is the sole focus, with Manchester City's looming opportunity barely registering, but elsewhere it's similar.
In Italy, both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport ran with "King Claudio" with their main headlines on Tuesday. On the same day in Spain, Leicester made the covers of Sport, AS, and Marca—"¡OLEicester! said the latter—while Mundo Deportivo made Leicester its feature story.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was even asked about Claudio Ranieri's side in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, while AS posted a video of passionate Madridista Tomas Roncero attempting to pronounce the name of the new English champions (it's a particularly difficult one for Spaniards).
"Leychester," he said.
It's historic and it's extraordinary, and as a result, never before has a Champions League semi-final week ever felt so secondary.
So can Europe's grandest competition grab back some of the limelight?
You suspect it might with these two.
After a tense and cagey 0-0 draw in last week's first leg at the Etihad Stadium, it's difficult to envisage a similar affair unfolding again given the nature of these sides. Madrid, after all, are explosive but flawed; City are remarkably similar. Indeed, these are outfits that are talent-reliant, Jekyll and Hyde, capable of the extraordinary and the ridiculous.
Buckle up, then, this one should be fun.
After last week's scoreless draw, you suspect it's Madrid who own the advantage heading into this clash. For them, it's simply a matter of winning a game at home—something they've done all season in emerging victorious from their five Champions League outings at the Bernabeu by an aggregate score of 18-0, and in triumphing there on 20 occasions out of 23 in all competitions.
For City, though, it's the threat of the away goal that will give them encouragement and put a degree of doubt in the minds of the hosts. In a team featuring Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and possibly Yaya Toure, there exists the incision and firepower to trouble Madrid and to capitalise on brief moments.
It's those brief moments for both sides that could be decisive, and fitness issues could be, too.
For Real Madrid, as confirmed by Zidane on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the lineup after missing the first leg in Manchester, but Karim Benzema is definitely out and so is Casemiro. It leaves Zidane with some selection headaches, while City boss Manuel Pellegrini has his own decision to make over the returning Toure.
Such concerns add yet more intrigue to a clash already dripping with sub-plots: Aguero's threat to the club that's long chased him; Pellegrini's return to the club that chased him out; Madrid's meeting with a club now steered off the field by ex-Barcelona men; City's quest to reach Madrid's level; Zidane's audition to secure his job and Pellegrini's audition for a new one.
Buckle up.
Date: Wednesday, May 4
Time: 7:45 p.m. BST / 2:45 p.m. EDT / 8:45 p.m. local
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
TV Info: BT Sport (UK), Fox Sports (U.S.)
Live Stream: BT Sport Online Player (UK), Fox Soccer 2GO (U.S.)
Form Lines
| W: 1-0 vs. Real Sociedad | L: 2-4 vs. Southampton |
| D: 0-0 vs. Manchester City | D: 0-0 vs. Real Madrid |
| W: 3-2 vs. Rayo Vallecano | W: 4-0 vs. Stoke City |
| W: 3-0 vs. Villarreal | D: 1-1 vs. Newcastle United |
| W: 5-1 vs. Getafe | W: 3-0 vs. Chelsea |
| W: 3-0 vs. Wolfsburg | W: 1-0 vs. Paris Saint-Germain |
Team News
For Real Madrid, Dani Carvajal, Pepe and Marcelo should all return to the side to join Sergio Ramos in defence after the trio sat out Madrid's clash against Real Sociedad on Saturday.
In midfield, the absence of Casemiro is likely to see Toni Kroos take the anchor role, with Isco possibly the man to fill the German's typical left-sided post in the central "three."
Up front, meanwhile, Ronaldo's return and the absence of Benzema could see the Portuguese move into the centre-forward position, with the in-form pair of Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez likely to flank him.
For Manchester City, Pellegrini looks set to return to a very similar lineup to the one used in the first leg of this tie after resting a large number of key players at the weekend against Southampton.
In defence, Nicolas Otamendi is expected to start alongside Vincent Kompany again instead of Eliaquim Mangala, while the conservative full-back pairing of Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy should also be used once more.
In midfield, Toure is a strong candidate to return and replace the injured David Silva, and he could form a central trio with Fernando and Fernandinho, while Aguero, De Bruyne and Jesus Navas are expected to fill the attacking slots.
Predicted Lineups
In the Spotlight
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Real Madrid: 8-15
Draw: 7-2
Manchester City: 11-2
