Will the Sky Blues make it exciting again?
The battle of the giants goes into the second round on Wednesday evening. After the game got off to a rather slow start last week, the second half of the game delivered what it promised. In the end, the Blancos celebrated an important 3-2 away win in England. So if the tip for an away win by the Sky Blues does not pan out at Real Madrid against Manchester City, the record holder would have overcome the big hurdle and would once again advance to the last 16 of the premier class.
The starting position speaks in favor of the Whites. The Madrilenians have already won the first leg of a UEFA knockout tie away from home 39 times. In only two of those 39 cases, they have been knocked out at home, which certainly influences our prediction for Real Madrid v Manchester City. After all, the Sky Blues have not managed to turn things around in any of the four cases in which they lost the first leg.
The overall record also does not favor Pep Guardiola’s team. Manchester City have not performed well, especially away from home, and have lost their last three away games in the Champions League. By contrast, the Blancos have only lost one of their last 17 Champions League home games (13 wins, three draws). Nevertheless, the Sky Blues are likely to arrive with plenty of anger in their bellies and will want to at least try something.
Real Madrid – Statistics & current form
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is not only the record Spanish champions, but also the record winners of the UEFA Champions League. However, as the defending champions, finishing only eleventh in the league phase and having lost three games did not quite match the club’s self-image.
The need for redemption was correspondingly pronounced, and the Blancos more than met it. The Galacticos won 3-2 at Manchester City, which means the door to the last 16 is now wide open. In 37 of 39 cases in which Real won the first leg away from home, they made it through to the next round in the second leg.
Real Madrid face the next personnel puzzle
However, the Madrilenians are struggling with significant injury concerns in defense. Five of the seven regular defenders are missing due to injury, including Dani Carvajal, Éder Militao, David Alaba, Antonio Rüdiger and Lucas Vázquez.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti may be forced to use midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni in central defense and 21-year-old Raúl Asencio on the right back again. However, the betting providers do not rate the injury misery overly and still see the Blancos as having an advantage.
Will the offense overcome any defensive problems?
Should the makeshift defense falter again, the brilliant offense will have to step up again. The goal threat in their own stadium is definitely there. Real Madrid have only failed to score in one of their last 78 Champions League home games, scoring 207 goals in that period.
Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham are now expected to continue this scoring prowess in front of their home crowd, after the dress rehearsal at Osasuna was spoiled at the weekend (1-1), when Bellingham was sent off early. However, the Englishman is not the only one to have already scored three CL goals against the Sky Blues in his career. Vinícius Júnior in particular is in top form and has already scored seven goals in the Champions League in 2024/25.
Predicted Real Madrid lineup:
Manchester City – statistics & current form
Manchester City could win the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the summer of 2023 and will, of course, also be included in the 2024/25 Champions League winner prediction. However, Pep Guardiola’s selection has rarely lived up to its favorite status. They won only three of the eight matches in the league phase (two draws, three defeats).
As only 22nd, the Cityzens just made it into the last 16, where they are now on the verge of elimination. If the first leg was lost, the Sky Blues were eliminated from the competition in all four cases.
Manchester City with weak performance on the road
However, Manchester City are also plagued by injury worries. The long-term absence of Rodri has destabilized the midfield and the defense has also been vulnerable recently. Meanwhile, new additions like Omar Marmoush are also providing a breath of fresh air. The former Frankfurt player was on hand to score a hat-trick against Newcastle United on Saturday.
In any case, the 4-0 result was a small warning sign for the Madrilenians, although City didn’t do too well overall away from home. The Guardiola team have recently lost three Champions League away games in a row.
Manchester City were too careless with leads
Nevertheless, there have been strong performances again and again in recent weeks, which is why we have every confidence in the brilliant offense around Erling Haaland, who has already scored 49 goals in 48 Champions League appearances, to make it exciting again. Our Real Madrid vs. Manchester City prediction is therefore that the Cityzens will score the first goal of the game.
However, scoring the first goal is no guarantee of advancing to the next round. Most recently, the Sky Blues went four consecutive Champions League matches without a win (one draw, three losses) after scoring the 1-0 goal – including the first leg against the Blancos, when they led 1-0 at half-time but ended up losing 2-3.
Expected line-up for Manchester City:
Real Madrid – Manchester City Head to head / H2H record
Head to head: 4 – 5 – 4
13 meetings have now taken place between the two international heavyweights, and Real Madrid’s 3-2 first-leg victory means that the head-to-head is now even, with both teams having won four times and five draws. At the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, however, the Blancos have only lost one of six Champions League home games against Manchester City (three wins, two draws).
Real Madrid – Manchester City Tip
In principle, the prediction is that Real Madrid will advance against Manchester City. However, it is undisputed that the Cityzens have the potential to knock on the goal to the last sixteen again at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Just last weekend, the Sky Blues demolished Newcastle United 4-0 in the Premier League, sending a small exclamation mark to the Spanish capital. It is quite possible that the reigning English champions will go into the high-profile second leg with the knife between their teeth.
The injury woes in the Real Madrid defense are also not insignificant, which is why it will probably not be enough for Madrid to simply play a stubborn defensive game. Accordingly, it could be a high-scoring game, although we bet that the guests will open a possible scoring.
Betting odds of 2.30 are available for the Citizens scoring the first goal of the game in the match between Real Madrid and Manchester City, which we at the renowned Munich bookmaker ODDSET are offering at three units.
