Manchester City vs Real Madrid (UEFA Champions League Last-16 Play-Off First-Leg): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How To Watch | OneFootball

Real Madrid travel to the Etihad Stadium in the first-leg of a last-16 play-off double-header against Manchester City following their league phase rankings.

Manchester City come into a mammoth night of European action off the back of a dramatic FA Cup fourth round win over League One side Leyton Orient, coming from behind at Brisbane Road to win 1-2 thanks to goals from Abdukodir Khusanov and Kevin De Bruyne.

The clash in east London did bring about a new fitness concern in the build-up to the meeting with Los Blancos as deadline day arrival Nico Gonzalez was withdrawn inside 25 minutes with a hip problem before returning to training on Monday alongside his teammates.

Another comeback win came in City’s last European outing as they secured a 3-1 win over Club Brugge on matchday eight of the league phase to record a 22nd place finish and a play-off against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, finalised in the following draw.

As for Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti’s side were held to a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu by local rivals Atletico Madrid and a Julian Alvarez strike from the spot, as the former Manchester City striker was responded to by Kylian Mbappe’s second-half effort.

As Manchester City look to take an advantage over to the Spanish capital next week in the second-leg, here is everything you need to know ahead of the encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night!

Match Details

Manchester City take on Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off first-leg at the Etihad Stadium with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 GMT on Tuesday 11 February.

Match Officials

UEFA have confirmed that the highly-rated and experienced French referee Clément Turpin will oversee proceedings from the role of lead match referee for Manchester City against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

Team News

Pep Guardiola has seen his Manchester City fitness and injury situation drastically improve over the last few days, resulting in just Rodri and Oscar Bobb remaining as the only sidelined stars coming into Tuesday night’s clash.

Ederson, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, and Jeremy Doku have all returned to first-team training over the last few weeks, while the Portugal international centre-back started and completed the first-half against Leyton Orient on Saturday afternoon without issue.

Deadline day signing Nico Gonzalez was replaced inside the opening 25 minutes with a hip problem and while returning to training alongside his teammates on Monday afternoon, the Spaniard did not seem entirely comfortable during the session.

As for Real Madrid, the Spanish side have confirmed their squad list for the clash at the Etihad Stadium across their various media channels.

Head To Head

Manchester City and Real Madrid have met a total of 12 times across their respective histories with Tuesday night’s hosts having won four of those contests, drawing five, and losing to the Spanish side three times.

There have been a total of 21 goals scored by the reigning Premier League champions in that time, with the Madrid club scoring 18 times across all 12 matches that have come since their first-ever meeting in September 2012.

Manchester City are unbeaten in the last four contests against Real Madrid with both of last season’s meetings resulting in draws and the La Liga giants winning the quarter-final bout via a penalty shoot-out at the Etihad Stadium.

Statistics

Manchester City vs Real Madrid will be just the fourth fixture in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history to have been played in four consecutive seasons, after Deportivo de La Coruña vs Juventus (4 from 2000/01 to 2003/04), Chelsea vs Liverpool (5 from 2004/05 to 2008/09), Atlético de Madrid vs Real Madrid (4 from 2013/14 to 2016/17).

This will be the 13th time Manchester City have faced Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League (W4, D5, L3). Of opponents Real Madrid have played against 5+ times in their European Cup/Champions League history, their win percentage of 25% against City is their lowest against any opponent.

Despite only losing three of their 12 games against them in the competition, Manchester City have been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League knockout stages by Real Madrid more often than by any other opponent (3 times).

Real Madrid have knocked an English club out of the UEFA Champions League knockout stages 13 times; only Los Blancos themselves have eliminated opponents from a specific nation more often in the competition (16 vs German clubs).

Real Madrid have knocked out an English Premier League club from the knockout stages of each of the last four UEFA Champions League seasons: 2020/21 (Liverpool), 2021/22 (Chelsea, Man City, and Liverpool), 2022/23 (Liverpool & Chelsea), 2023/24 (Man City).

How To Watch

Viewers in the UK will be able to watch Manchester City take on Real Madrid live on Amazon Prime Video while radio commentary will also be available via BBC Radio Manchester and talkSPORT.

Those in the United States will be able to view the UEFA Champions League encounter between the two clubs on Paramount+.

You can find full global TV listings for the first-leg of the last-16 play-off tie in the UEFA Champions League HERE!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk and YouTube!