Man City vs Real Madrid predicted line-ups: Confirmed team news & expected XIs
After finishing 22nd out of 36 in the new Champions League table format, Manchester City will face Real Madrid who finished 11th in the table, with the first leg of the tie taking place at the Etihad Stadium.
The game is being shown live on Amazon Prime with a 20:00 kick off.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid predicted line-ups
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson, Nunes, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Silva, Kovacic, Foden, De Bruyne, Marmoush, Haaland
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois, Valverde, Tchouameni, Asencio, Mendy, Camavinga, Modric, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Mbappe
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Manchester City vs Real Madrid team news
Pep Guardiola will remain without Ballon D’or winner Rodri, who beat out Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior for the award. Others confirmed as “doubtful” are Nathan Ake, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb, whilst new signing Nico Gonzalez will be tested ahead of the game to declare his condition ahead of the game.
On a more positive note, Omar Marmoush has been added to the Manchester City Champions League squad, meaning he can now play a part in the competition for the Citizens and could lineup alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden behind Erling Haaland.
Carlo Ancelotti has plenty of injury problems in his squad, with their defensive line looking particularly light with the absences of Antonio Rudiger, Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Eder Militao and David Alaba.
This could see the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asencio starting as a centre-back pairing, with Luka Modric playing a starting role in midfield due to the likes of Tchouameni and Federico Valverde having to play in the back line.
READ MORE: How Man City can avoid defeat to Real Madrid two years on the bounce
Haaland vs Lightweight Madrid defence
Erling Haaland is likely to line up against a central defence pairing of the 21-year-old Raul Asencio and the natural defensive midfielder Tchouameni with their lack of options in this area. Whilst both have shown good signs in this position this season when called upon, the former has only just been thrust into the first-team squad this season, whilst the latter prefers to play in front of the defensive line, helping to screen and protect them in transition.
The Manchester City striker tends to bully opposition defenders, usually choosing one in particular to post up against, looking to win the physical battle and generate his chances through this method. Haaland is averaging 1.74 aerial duels won per 90, losing 1.52 of his aerial duels and generating 0.22 xG from headers per 90.
So far this season, Ascensio has won 1.99 aerial duels per 90, making 1.99 headed clearances per game, whilst Tchouameni is averaging 2.15 aerial duels won per 90 with 0.99 headed clearances per game.
It will be interesting to see whether Haaland looks to post up against the younger, inexperienced option of Ascensio in an attempt to bully him and give him a hard time, or if Pep will look to get bodies around Haaland such as Marmoush, De Bruyne and Foden in order to overload those central areas and find the mismatch against the Real Madrid defensive line.
