For the ninth time in Champions League history, 14-time winners Real Madrid and a Manchester City side still seeking their first-ever crown lock horns on Tuesday night at the Bernabeu for the first leg of their semi-final.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men eased to a pair of 2-0 wins over Chelsea to progress to the final four, while Pep Guardiola’s men were similarly convincing in a 4-1 aggregate success over Bayern Munich.
The two European behemoths have already locked horns eight times down the years, and both sides can boast their equal share of victories with three apiece, while there have also been two stalemates since the first meeting in 2013.
Ahead of what promises to be a mouthwatering evening in the Spanish capital, MSNEWS Sports takes a look at the top five meetings between Real Madrid and Manchester City so far.
5. Real Madrid 1-2 Man City – Last 16 – February 26, 2020
Only a few weeks before COVID-19 raged across Europe and brought football to a standstill, there was time for fans to pack the Bernabeu up to the rafters for the first leg of Real’s last-16 affair with Man City in the 2019-20 season.
Aiming to wrestle the crown back from Liverpool, Real Madrid’s bid to reach the last eight got off to a slow start, but Isco broke the deadlock on the hour mark, slotting home from Vinicius Junior’s cutback after the Brazilian robbed Kyle Walker of the ball in a dangerous area.
City had already lost Aymeric Laporte to a first-half injury, but the Premier League champions dug deep and restored parity in the 78th minute, as Gabriel Jesus’s header squirmed through Thibaut Courtois’s grasp to gift the visitors a precious away goal.
Just five minutes later, Kevin De Bruyne – who had set up Jesus’s equaliser – coolly dispatched a penalty after Raheem Sterling was scythed down by Dani Carvajal, as Man City travelled back to base with a famous 2-1 win to shout about.
The two sides would have to wait nearly another six months before playing the return leg at the Etihad, where another 2-1 win for City sent Los Blancos packing before Guardiola’s men were shocked by Lyon in the quarter-finals.
4. Real Madrid 1-0 Man City – Semi-finals – May 4, 2016
Gunning for a second Champions League title in three years, Real Madrid hosted Man City at the Bernabeu for the second leg of their 2015-16 semi-final on the back of a drab 0-0 draw in Manchester.
Joe Hart had to be City’s saviour in the goalless first leg, but there was little that the Englishman could have done to prevent Real’s 20th-minute opener, as Gareth Bale’s cross-cum-shot took a nick off Fernando and looped into the back of the net.
Bale’s strike went down as a Fernando own goal, but the latter’s compatriot Fernandinho squandered a golden chance to level the scores on the 45-minute mark, firing a low effort which clipped the outside of the post on its way behind.
The woodwork would rattle again through Bale’s second-half header, as Real Madrid clung onto their narrow lead to set up another final with local rivals Atletico Madrid, and as was the case in 2014, Zinedine Zidane’s team came up trumps in El Derbi Madrileno.
3. Real Madrid 3-2 Man City – Group stage – September 19, 2012
A few months on from capping off their meteoric rise with a maiden Premier League title, Man City were given a Champions League baptism of fire in the group stages, being paired with the perennial winners in the group stages.
The first-ever meeting between the two sides took place at the Bernabeu in September 2012, and after a goalless 68 minutes, the game suddenly exploded into life in the dying embers.
Twice Roberto Mancini’s team took the lead, and twice they were pegged back, as strikes from Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov were cancelled out by Marcelo and Karim Benzema.
Just when City appeared destined to leave with a creditable point, who else but Cristiano Ronaldo struck a 90th-minute winner for Los Blancos to settle a five-goal spectacular, and Real Madrid would qualify for the knockout rounds in second place that year, while the Citizens’ first taste of top-tier European football ended with no wins and a last-placed finish in Group D.
2. Man City 4-3 Real Madrid – Semi-finals – April 26, 2022
The Etihad faithful have witnessed and will continue to witness many enthralling European evenings, but maybe none more so than last year’s semi-final first leg with Los Blancos, as goals flew in left, right and centre.
De Bruyne headed home the opening goal after just 93 seconds before Jesus’s smart turn and finish on the 11-minute mark doubled the hosts’ lead, although a fine Benzema strike would cut the deficit in half with 33 minutes gone.
Eight minutes into the second period, a Phil Foden header restored City’s two-goal advantage, but Real Madrid were not giving up the ghost, as Vinicius Junior gave Fernandinho the slip before running the full length of City’s half to slot home in the 55th minute.
For the third time on the night, City would find the net again only to be immediately pegged back, as Bernardo Silva sent an arrowed finish into the roof of the net before Benzema added his second from the penalty spot, punishing Laporte’s handball with the most audacious of panenkas.
1. Real Madrid 3-1 Man City (a.e.t) – Semi-finals – May 4, 2022
The second leg of Real and City’s 2021-22 semi-final had a lot to live up to after their seven-goal Etihad extravaganza, and to say that the tie did not disappoint would be an understatement.
For 90 minutes, the Premier League champions executed Guardiola’s game plan to perfection, and a spot in the final was within touching distance after Riyad Mahrez beat Courtois at his near post in the 73rd minute, although in truth, there was little that the Belgian could have done.
Courtois was very nearly beaten for a second time in the 87th minute as Jack Grealish tried to kill the game off, but Ferland Mendy made an astonishing goalline clearance to deny the Englishman, and the left-back’s intervention would be the catalyst for a barnstorming Blancos comeback.
Three minutes after Mendy’s stunning clearance, Rodrygo caught the City defence unawares to give Los Blancos a slice of hope, and in the first of six minutes of added time, the 5ft 9in Brazilian channelled his inner Ronaldo with an incredible header to force the unlikeliest of extra-time periods.
The white-clad phoenix had risen from the ashes, and with just three minutes gone in extra time, Ruben Dias felled Benzema in the area, allowing the Frenchman to propel Real into a 6-5 aggregate lead.
There would be no repeat of his Etihad chip – Benzema coolly sent Ederson the wrong way to pick out the bottom corner – and one missed Fernandinho sitter later, Man City’s Champions League hopes had, somehow, been extinguished for another year.
Team News, Probable Lineups & Prediction
As mentioned, Real Madrid will be forced to work around the absence of Militao for the first leg due to suspension; the centre-back was cautioned for the third time in this season’s tournament during the second leg of the quarter-finals, after which players on one or two bookings had their yellow cards wiped.
Left-back Ferland Mendy is also struggling to recover from a calf problem and is expected to miss out too, but Luka Modric managed to play a part as a substitute in the Copa del Rey final after shaking off a hamstring concern, and the 37-year-old should be given the green light to start on Tuesday – music to the ears of Ancelotti and the Bernabeu faithful.
Aurelien Tchouameni could be the unlucky fulcrum to make way for Modric, while Antonio Rudiger will join forces with David Alaba at the back in place of Militao. Meanwhile, Eduardo Camavinga – who can now proudly claim to have won every major trophy with Real Madrid at the tender age of 20 – should continue in his makeshift left-back role.
A defensive concern is also lingering in the mind of Guardiola, who lost Nathan Ake to an apparent hamstring issue with 54 minutes gone against Leeds, and fans are anxiously awaiting updates on the Dutchman’s condition. Cole Palmer’s ankle is also giving him grief, but the 21-year-old would never have started here.
In any case, Guardiola will be tempted to recall Kyle Walker to try to keep Vinicius Junior at bay, while a host of well-rested regulars in Rodri, John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish are also primed to return to the first XI after Guardiola rang the changes at the weekend.
It was not Haaland’s day in front of goal at the weekend, but the 35-goal Norwegian – who also recently broke the single-season Premier League record with the same number – averages a goal every 58 minutes in the Champions League, unsurprisingly the best ratio in the history of the competition, and he will give his admirers plenty to think about on Tuesday.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland
We say: Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester City
Man City, and Haaland especially, will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing a Militao-less Real Madrid backline, especially given Los Blancos’ recent failures at keeping the back door shut domestically.
However, if there is one thing to know about Real Madrid, it is that they are never to be written off in Europe. A first leg that could easily swing either way should no doubt live up the billing, and we expect the two behemoths to play out an entertaining stalemate, undeniably a better result for Guardiola’s men before the return leg at the Etihad on May 17.
