Manchester City and Real Madrid break UK streaming record for live sporting event in Champions League clash | OneFootball

The record for the highest number of live viewers on a streamed sporting event in the UK has been broken this week by Manchester City and Real Madrid, data has shown.

The two giants of English and Spanish football clashed for a fourth consecutive season on Tuesday night as they battle it out for a place in the UEFA Champions League’s round of 16 after an underwhelming league phase campaign.

City’s 22nd place finish in the initial round of European football’s revamped format saw them come to the realisation of facing either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in a two-legged play-off, with the former confirmed as their opponents via a draw procedure.

The contest did not disappoint in its first round of 90 minutes either, as Erling Haaland’s brace either side of a Kylian Mbappe equaliser was followed up by quick-fire strikes from Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham in the closing stages to snatch victory from City.

And it appears as though the drama of midweek captured the attentions of millions across the United Kingdom, so much so that the figures themselves have broken records for a live streamed sporting event in the country.

That is according to The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon, who reveals that Real Madrid’s dramatic comeback victory against City in the UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off first-leg on Tuesday night set a new streaming record for a live sporting event on Prime Video in the UK.

It has been revealed that an audience of ‘well over’ four million people streamed the game on Prime Video, beating the previous record set during Manchester City’s 1-3 away win against Arsenal in the Premier League title race of 2023.

The two clubs are set to meet again on Wednesday night for a place in the last-16 where they will face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, with Manchester City aware of the circumstances that await them at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Pep Guardiola and his players now know that they will require a victory by a two-goal margin in order to overturn the deficit that Real Madrid placed upon them at the Etihad Stadium earlier this week.

That contest will also follow a similarly important Premier League clash for the reigning English top-flight champions, as Newcastle United visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon in a clash between the division’s 5th and 6th-placed clubs.