Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Etihad Stadium forms the backdrop for the return leg of an evenly-poised Champions League semi-final tie between Manchester City and Real Madrid (1-1).
Manchester City’s pursuit of a history-defining treble took a massive stride at the weekend as they thumped Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park to take advantage of Arsenal’s home loss to Brighton and move four points clear at the Premier League summit with a game in hand. However, landing an elusive maiden Champions League title remains at the forefront of City’s minds as they look to avenge last season’s semi-final exit and reach the grand final for the second time in three years. Pep Guardiola’s men boast a formidable home record in Europe, having racked up a jaw-dropping 23 wins in their last 25 Champions League outings at the Etihad (D2) since going down to Lyon in September 2018. But if you’re a fan of omens, they’ve suffered elimination in two of their three previous Champions League semi-final ties, bowing out to Real Madrid on each occasion.

Yet Real Madrid’s superior H2H record at this stage of the tournament could be the only silver lining for ‘Los Blancos.’ A narrow 1-0 home win over Getafe last weekend was in vain as Carlo Ancelotti’s side officially surrendered La Liga supremacy to arch-rivals Barcelona, leaving the Champions League trophy as the only saving grace. Despite going into this match-up as underdogs, ‘Los Merengues’ can draw confidence from collecting two wins in their last three away matches against English sides in the Champions League knockout stages (both this term). Against this backdrop, they’ve gone winless in all four previous visits to Man City in Europe’s most prestigious competition (D2, L2), losing the last two by an aggregate score of 6-4. Playing on the road has been the visitors’ Achilles heel lately, as they’ve lost back-to-back away games in the build-up to this trip by a two-goal margin each.