UCL: Manchester City vs Real Madrid; prediction, head-to-head, match preview

Manchester City vs Real Madrid is one of the most anticipated UEFA Champions League showdowns that promises to give football fans something to talk about with both teams boasting an array of talented players and a strong desire to claim a crucial victory.

Both teams booked their spot in the round of 16 play-offs after they failed to finish in the top eight teams at the end of the new format of the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid were among the seeded teams while Manchester City were not seeded due to the positions that they finished on the Champions League table.

Real Madrid secured qualification by winning their last three league-phase games, finishing 11th on the table with 15 points. Meanwhile, City booked their spot with a crucial 3-1 comeback victory over Club Brugge on Matchday 8 sealing their place in the knockouts in 22nd position with 11 points.

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola has tagged the clash a derby as this is the fourth consecutive time that both meet will be meeting in the competition.

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Recent form

Carlo Ancelotti will fancy his side’s getting past Manchester City given that they have eliminated a Premier League club from the knockout stages in each of the last four Champions League seasons. They knocked out Liverpool in 2020-21; Chelsea, City, and Liverpool in 2021-22; Liverpool and Chelsea in 2022-23; and City in 2023-24.

Head to Head:

Manchester City have been eliminated from the Champions League knockout stages by Madrid on three occasions, which is more often than by any other opponent, despite only losing three of their 12 meetings in the competition.

As well as beating them in last season’s quarter-finals, they also dispatched City with a memorable extra-time comeback win in 2021-22’s last eight. This will be the 13th meeting between the two sides in the competition and Madrid have only won four of the first 12 (D5 L3).

Prediction:

Manchester City have not been in good form this season as against the form of Real Madrid across all competitions. We predict a 4-2 win for Real Madrid over the Cityzens.

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