Manchester City aims for a second successive appearance in the final of the Champions League but 13 times winners Real Madrid stand in their way in the two-legged semifinals. The sides are meeting for the seventh time in the competition with four coming at this stage.
Pep Guardiola's men were to work hard to unlock a stubborn and feisty Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals whereas their rivals Real had to launch another major fightback to knock out competition holders Chelsea in the same round.
MCI vs RMA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2022/ Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Time: 20:00 (BST), 00:30 (IST)
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
MCI vs RMA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Match Preview
Manchester City continues to get their job done in the Premier League keeping their point gap at the top over Liverpool, thrashing Watford 5-1 at the weekend. While defending the Premier League title is the priority for Guardiola, they want to finally quench the thirst for European success in this season itself. It is not new for City to be at this stage after making up here last year eventually beating Paris Saint Germain. The English side are in the semifinals for only the third time in the competition and first-ever consecutively. City broke their quarterfinals jinx last season and had to go through Atletico's wrenching mind games in a narrow 1-0 aggregate win from the first leg after their away trip ended 0-0 courtesy of Gundogan hitting the post and Ederson denying a late equaliser from the Spanish outfit. If the sky blues thought they survived the storm in the Atletico tunnel, a white mist surrounds them next. An opposition with a more defiant nature and a durable record in the competitions. Real Madrid were the team that eliminated City in their first taste of the semifinals however Pep Guardiola's men roared back in the tie back in 2020. City also haven't lost in the Champions League at home since 2018. Their only major worry heading into the clash is their defensive strangles with no natural right back at disposal if Kyle Walker or John Stones failed to pass the fitness test.
Carlo Ancelloti could look at that and give Vinicius Jr the freedom of the world to exploit that flank and find his buddy Karim Benzema to do the goods again in his tremendous form. Real Madrid had to call him multiple times to score deciders against Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain in the last two rounds when Los Blancos looked down and out. Against PSG in the last 16, Benzema came up with a memorable hattrick to overturn a 2-0 deficit on aggregate before scoring in the extra period of the quarterfinals to launch Madrid to this stage and knocking out the holders in the process. Thomas Tuchel men came from 3-1 down to lead 4-3 on aggregate in the return leg only for Rodrygo to score from an unbelievable pass by Luka Modric in the last ten minutes of normal time and open the ground for the Frenchman later to do his bits. Real have almost secured their title domestically with only a point required to confirm their status with five games to go following a 3-1 win over Osasuna on Friday. So, unlike City, will be freer to approach the fixture. Ancelloti's men also enter the first leg with a six-game winning spree away from home making the previous defeat to PSG on the trip in the contest nothing more than a blip. However, no side has ever won away from home against two separate English teams during the knockout rounds of a single tournament. Madrid are aiming for their 16th final after ending their stay at this stage last season.
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MCI vs RMA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Team News
Pep Guardiola said he can only tell about Kyle Walker and John Stones's availability for the game after a training session on Monday. Walker, without training for 10 days, missed the last three games for City carrying an ankle injury in the quarterfinal second leg at Atletico while Stones didn't feature in the squad for the Watford game in the league on Saturday having not trained since Brighton last week. They both remain in doubt for the first leg. It was taken into consideration that Gabriel Jesus could be slotted in the role but the manager denied it. Joao Cancelo is suspended for the semifinal first leg after receiving the maximum number of yellow cards.
David Alaba was replaced by Nacho Fernandez during the break in the win over Osasuna for a possible injury scare but he will be fit to start against Manchester City. Midfielder Casemiro missed the fixture completely and his situation will be accessed closely ahead of the tie. His replacement Camavinga has impressed coming off the bench in the previous rounds playing a key part for Real Madrid to turn games on their heads at will. The 19-year-old can be offered a start by Carlo Ancelloti this time.
MCI vs RMA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Expected Lineups
Man City: Ederson; Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling
Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy, Toni Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric, Fede Valverde, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior
MCI vs RMA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Head to Head
It was a hotly contested battle between the teams at the quarterfinals stage of the competition in 2020. Isco gave the home side the lead at Santiago Bernabeu but Gabriel Jesus and then Kevin De Bruyne from the spot picked up a vital away win for Man City. In the return leg, two howling mistakes from Raphael Varane gifted City the entry into the next round even though Benzema cut the deficit in between those strikes. In the semifinal matchup back in 2016 only an own goal from Fernando over two legs paved the way for eventual champions Real Madrid's progress to the final.
MCI vs RMA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Dream11 Prediction
GK: Ederson (8)
DEF: Carvajal (8.5), Militao (9.5), Laporte (9), Alaba (9)
MID: De Bruyne (9.5), Modric (9.5), Valverde (8)
FW: B. Silva (9), Benzema (10), Vini Jr (9.5)
