Real Madrid and Manchester City are set to meet for the 15th time in European competition, continuing a rivalry that has become one of the defining fixtures of the Champions League in recent years.
The two sides have clashed in each of the last four seasons, with Madrid eliminating City last year thanks to a 3-2 win in Manchester and a 3-1 triumph at the Bernabéu.
The Spanish giants boast an intimidating home record, winning 13 of their last 14 group stage matches, while Kylian Mbappé has been particularly ruthless against City, scoring seven goals in seven appearances, including a hat-trick in last season’s knockout phase.
Erling Haaland, meanwhile, has nine goals in nine games against Spanish opposition and remains City’s most potent weapon.
Pep Guardiola has urged his players to embrace the occasion and ‘play like who we are’ as they prepare for another daunting night in Madrid. This will be the eighth time City have been drawn against Los Blancos and the fifth consecutive season they have faced them in Europe’s elite competition.
The highlight for Guardiola’s side came in 2022/23 when they defeated the 15-time champions in the semi-finals en route to their historic Treble. But since then, Madrid have had the upper hand, knocking City out on penalties in the 2023/24 quarter-finals before eliminating them again last season in the play-off phase with a 6-3 aggregate victory.
Guardiola admitted the Bernabéu is ‘never an easy place’ and reflected on missed opportunities in their last group stage outing against Leverkusen, where heavy rotation contributed to a 2-0 defeat. Recently, however, he has kept a more settled side, making only one change across three consecutive wins in domestic competition. Joking with reporters about his selection policy, Guardiola said: ‘You destroyed me so I said I don’t want to be destroyed again for substitutions. I want to be kind to you. No reason why. I decide to do that. In Bernabéu we will see what happens with the momentum.’
