Predicted Teams Manchester City-Real Madrid: Will Carlo Ancelotti spring a surprise in defence? | OneFootball

Manchester City and Real Madrid are ready to do battle for the fourth year in a row in the Champions League, with both sides having progressed past the other twicw in the last five years. While it is occurring in the play-off round, the winner of this tie has been the overall winner for the last three years in a row.

Both sides come into the game with a number of injury issues. Real Madrid are without Eder Militao, David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez due to fitness issues, leaving Carlo Ancelotti with a conundrum in defence. Diario AS expect him to go with Fede Valverde at right-back and Ferland Mendy on the left, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asencio in the middle.

Both they and Marca believe that the star-studded attacking quartet of Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo Goes, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior will start with Dani Ceballos and Eduardo Camavinga in the middle. There is potential for Modric to play ahead of Ceballos, while there have been some reports that Mendy could start at right-back, with Valverde in midfield and Fran Garcia at left-back.

Manchester City are without Nathan Ake, Jeremy Doku, Rodri Hernandez, Matheus Nunes and Oscar Bobb through injury. Pep Guardiola is poised to leave January signings Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez on the bench for a more familiar looking side. Former Girona winger Savinho is set to start on the left side against a makeshift right-back.

Real Madrid compensated for their defensive absences on Saturday night by maintaining plenty of possession against a defensive Atletico Madrid. City have their own defensive frailties to deal with, and will not want to give Los Blancos space to run, but so far this season taking the ball away from Ancelotti’s side has been the best way to hurt them.