It remains to be seen what kind of Manchester City side we’ll see Friday night when they host Real Madrid in the second leg of their round of 16 UCL tie. Yes, in their last five Premier League contests they won and won big putting up a 21-1 aggregate scoreline, but against the bottom and middle lower table opposition.
They also lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup semifinal, and against Chelsea in a match that conveyed to all opposition the proper way to attack them.
City are essentially considered favorites to win the Champions League outright, or at least co-favorites with Bayern Munich.
City have yet to reach a UCL final in their club’s history, and in order to get on the path to that promised land, they’ll have to go through Real Madrid, the club that has won Europe far more than any other.
“We’re aware of the excellent work we’ve done over the past few years,” said Real Madrid center back supreme Raphael Varane.
“It doesn’t happen often. We try to remember those days to keep working hard and try to take something out of that experience. We know that little things can make a difference in games like this. We’ve got a lot of experience in these big matches, so we can feel confident.”
“We’re just as determined as before. Our goal is to win, and that’s partly due to the DNA of this club. We always want to put the past aside, move on and win.”
Starting XI Predictions
Real Madrid
Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Militao, Mendy; Casemiro, Modric, Kroos; Hazard, Benzema, Asensio
Manchester City
Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Mahrez
UCL Round of 16 Leg 2 of 2 Manchester City vs Real Madrid FYIs
Kickoff: Friday Aug 7, 8pm Etihad stadium
Aggregate: City leads 2-1 from the first leg
Watch: CBS Sports, FuboTv
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Odds: Real Madrid win +320 Draw +340 Manchester City win -139
Prediction: Manchester City 2, Real Madrid 0
While City will be without their all-time leading scorer, Madrid’s absentee list is longer and much more damaging to their cause. Los Blancos also have to fight uphill and away from home, thus a victory by the visiting side here would be surprising to say the least.
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 contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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