Man City head to Real Madrid tomorrow night with their chances of coming away with victory rather favorable. It’s the first of their two legged knockout round tie in the UEFA Champions League, and a match that looks absolutely scintillating on paper.
It would be an even more intriguing match if Eden Hazard and Raheem Sterling were fully fit for it. The former may not play again this term while the latter will likely feature, although perhaps not in a starting role. So without further ado, let’s take a look at what the two first XIs might be in the Spanish capital tomorrow night when two of the richest and most powerful clubs on the planet do battle.
UCL Round of 16 Leg 1 of 2 Man City at Real Madrid Starting XI Predictions
Man City- Ederson; Cancelo, Fernandinho, Laporte, Mendy; De Bruyne, Rodrigo, Bernardo; Mahrez, Aguero, B. Silva
Real Madrid- Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Valverde, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Isco
UCL Round of 16 Leg 1 of 2 Man City at Real Madrid FYIs
Kickoff: Feb 26, 8pm Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Result probability: Real Madrid win 33% Draw 26% Man City win 41%
Key stat/interesting fact: Real Madrid have scored in each of their last 22 home games in the knockout stages of the Champions League
Prediction: Man City 2, Real Madrid 1
City have never beaten Madrid, in any of their four previous meetings, but now seems like the time for Guardiola to get them over the hump. Feeling the pressure to win Champions League, and knowing that he has to do it now, I think the Spaniard rises up here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link