Manchester City take on the visitors Real Madrid in the first leg of UEFA Champions League round of 16. The match will be played on Tuesday, February 11th at Etihad Stadium (Manchester).
Manchester City won the treble in 2023, and last season they managed to once again maintain their status as the flagship of English football. But it was not for nothing that the club was feverishly spending money on the market in January, acquiring Marmus, Reis and Khusanov without much bargaining. On the other hand, many believed that the reason for the failure of Guardiola's charges at the end of 2024 was Rodri's injury - but they did not acquire anyone to replace him! And with the relative normalization of the situation in the Premier League, there were questions in the Champions League in January. Let us recall that after 7 points in the first three rounds (0-0 with Inter and defeats of Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague), there were away defeats to both Sporting and Juventus, and at home they allowed Feyenoord to turn 3-0 into a draw. It was necessary to win, but instead in January, having led 2-0 with PSG, they lost 2-4. And only with Brugge did everything end with a victory in the 8th round, but even there after the first half the Belgians were ahead.
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Real (Madrid) is also not without questions. Last season, the "creamy" won the championship in the domestic arena, in Primera, having previously won the Super Cup, and in the Champions League. But this season there were extremely contradictory results. Ancelotti once again won the UEFA Super Cup, and in December he added the Intercontinental Cup to his (and the club's) impressive collection. But after the New Year there was a rout from Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup. They also lost to them in Primera, but there they managed to break into the leaders over the distance. In the Champions League, the Spaniards lost to Lille, Liverpool and Milan. The Los Blancos were the first to concede goals from Stuttgart and Borussia (the visitors from Dortmund were leading 2-0), but they were beaten - as in the winter, Atalanta, Red Bull Salzburg and Brest.
There have been many confrontations. So, in 2020, the Citizens won both times, two years later there was an exchange of victories and Benzema's decisive goal in extra time. In 2023, the English defeated the Spaniards after a draw in Madrid, but last spring they lost to them on penalties after a couple of draws with a clear advantage in the game. The clubs are too unstable to be sure of anything. But here the “total over 3.0 goals” clearly suggests itself.
Prediction for the match: Over 3.0 scored goals.
