La Liga champions Real Madrid visit the Etihad stadium on Friday evening hoping to turn around a 2-1 first leg deficit against Manchester City in the last-16 of the Champions League.
Zinedine Zidane’s men ended the domestic campaign strongly with 10 consecutive victories which saw them overtake Barcelona and claim the title for only the second time in eight years.
City won eight of their last 10 league matches and despite finishing 18 points behind champions Liverpool, Pep Guardiola’s side have plenty of momentum behind them heading into the clash.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid Latest Odds
The Blues are clear favourites at with bet365 to win in 90 minutes and at to qualify.
Madrid are available at to claim a victory without extra time, while the 13-time European champions are offered at to make it through to the quarter-finals.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid Team News
Both managers have practically their entire respective squads at their disposal, although City are without the suspended Benjamin Mendy whilst Sergio Aguero remains a major doubt after having knee surgery in June.
Madrid are without suspended captain Sergio Ramos and forward Mariano Diaz is unavailable.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid Preview
The visitors to the Etihad stadium know they must score at least twice to have any hope of making it through and Madrid have a strong recent pedigree on the road in the competition.
High-profile wins at Juventus, Paris Saint-German, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in recent years will give the side confidence, although their most challenging road trip in this season’s competition saw them beaten 3-0 in Paris.
However, this is a very different Madrid side to the one that started the season, with a newfound defensively solidity that has served them well domestically on their way to the title.
Whether they can keep a City side that racked up 102 Premier League goals this season at bay remains to be seen, especially without Ramos, but there is a resilience to this Los Blancos team which was not there in previous seasons under Zidane.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid Tips And Predictions
The price of for Real Madrid to win any game of football is surely worthy of consideration, especially so with the side on a high having being crowned champions of Spain.
Of course they could win and still get knocked out, yet the odds for an away win will surely tempt plenty given the side’s pedigree in the competition.
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