Champions League 1/4 final second leg Manchester City vs Real Madrid: Manchester City has no suspense to advance, and won again
In the 2023-24 Champions League season, after the 1/8 finals, three La Liga teams advanced, which is the team with the most quarterfinals among the five major leagues.
In the first leg of the quarterfinals, the results of the three La Liga teams were very good. Barcelona beat Mbappe-led Paris 3-2 away from home on an unfavourable side. Atletico beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home. Real Madrid drew 3-3 at home to defending champions Manchester City in a passive situation.
In the second leg of the quarterfinals, the situation was not so optimistic, and the three La Liga teams were eliminated by two at once. Barcelona faced Paris at home, in a good situation of leading 1:0, with the central defender Araujo being sent off with a red card, coach Xavi was impulsively sent off, Barcelona collapsed, and finally lost 1:4 at home, out of the way embarrassing, wretched!
So what will be the prospect of Real Madrid, the only seed in the top three of La Liga?
In the quarter-finals, Premier League teams account for two, along with Bundesliga teams, and at the moment, it seems that the situation is no better than that of La Liga. There was only a 2-2 draw at home in the first leg, and Arsenal played Bayern Munich in the second leg, and the prospects are not optimistic. Manchester City hosts Real Madrid, will it collapse unexpectedly like Barcelona?
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Nature of competition: Champions League 1/4 final second leg
Time: 3:00 on April 18
Manchester City won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble last season, and the prospects for defending their title are all relatively positive. There are six games left in the Premier League, two points more than rivals Arsenal and Liverpool, and the FA Cup semi-final will be against Chelsea. In the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, they drew away from rival Real Madrid and had the opportunity to advance.
A narrow win would have secured progress, and it won't be easy to beat Real Madrid, even though they're not in their prime at the moment, and Pep Guardiola is well aware of that. For this big battle, Guardiola has also made full preparations, playing Luton at home in the last round of the Premier League, making some rotations to the lineup, and having five days of rest before the Champions League against Real Madrid. Manchester City are currently fully staffed, with only John Stones suffering minor injuries. The test for Manchester City is the physical exertion of a three-day match, and after this game, it will be the FA Cup against Chelsea three days later, but the Manchester City players will not think about it so much for the time being.
Real Madrid, this season to the present, La Liga, the Champions League both have the hope of winning the championship, the biggest grasp is La Liga, there are still 7 rounds ahead of Barcelona 8 points, although Barcelona has an excellent recent record, but Real Madrid's La Liga record is more stable than Barcelona, and it is unlikely to give Barcelona a chance to counterattack.
Manchester City has won 7 and drawn 3 in the last 10 games, Real Madrid has won 6 and drawn 4 in the last 10 games, both sides have been unbeaten in the near future, Manchester City's unbeaten is more golden, and the three fronts have recently played against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid and other strong opponents, Real Madrid in La Liga in addition to Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, playing other teams are abuse.
The two sides have met in the past 10 times, Manchester City has the upper hand with 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses, Real Madrid has never won Manchester City away, and in the Guardiola era, it has not even won a draw, and the Champions League has lost all 3 times to Manchester City.
In this game, Pep Guardiola will certainly try to settle the battle in regular time and not let Real Madrid drag into unpredictable extra time. Manchester City's squad is stronger, the main center Haaland has rebounded, De Bruyne, who was not on the first leg, should start this time, Foden and Grealish also have the ability to win the decisive battle.