Manchester City take on the visitors Real Madrid in the second leg of UEFA Champions League semifinals. The first leg result: 1-1. The match will be played on Wednesday, May 17th at Etihad Stadium (Manchester).
Manchester City dominate British football, and that is evident even now. For a long time, Guardiola's team was not leading the title race but was trailing behind Arsenal. However, Zinchenko and his teammates de facto capitulated last month when they first drew three times and then lost a head-to-head match against their rivals. Additionally, the FA Cup final will be a Manchester derby against United. But undoubtedly, the main goal and long-standing dream of Pep and everyone at the Etihad is to reach the "Big-Eared" trophy. So far, their best achievement has been reaching the final, which they lost to Chelsea. In this tournament, the English team looked solid. They comfortably progressed through their group and implemented an identical scenario against German teams in the knockout stage: a 1-1 draw away followed by a home victory. Only against RB Leipzig did they start with a draw, while against Bayern, they comfortably shared points after a 3-0 victory in Foggy Albion. Last week, the English team put up a worthy performance in the Spanish capital, especially in the first half, but eventually had to settle for a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
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Real Madrid are also considered a powerhouse of Spanish football. However, this time they were limited to winning the Copa del Rey, where they also secured a 4-1 victory at Camp Nou against Barcelona in the semifinals. But all of this clearly pales in comparison to their defeat in the Spanish Super Cup, especially against Barcelona, and, most importantly, their decline in La Liga, where they hopelessly fell behind their eternal rivals after last year's title. Moreover, by May, the "Merengues" were caught up by another formidable opponent, Atletico Madrid. Only the Champions League remains as a means to salvage their season. Of course, there's also the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup, but all of that is too minor for the "royal club." Thankfully, their performances in European competitions have been decent. After a solid group stage, Carlo's protégés focused on English teams in the knockout matches of 2023. They first defeated last year's finalist, Liverpool, in the Round of 16, and then in April, they secured two 2-0 victories over crisis-ridden Chelsea. However, the next hurdle proved to be the most challenging, in the form of the resurgent City. Madrid managed to open the scoring in the first leg in Madrid, but the final 1-1 result appears fair.
We can recall the twists and turns of last year when City, also in the semifinals, won at home in a spectacular but narrow manner. They also scored an away goal but squandered their advantage in the 90th minute, after which they conceded the decisive goal in extra time, courtesy of Benzema, of course. The "Los Blancos" side looks unconvincing and cannot replicate their success from 2022. We bet that this time it will all end with a victory for the "Citizens."
Prediction for the match: Manchester City to win.
