Manchester City v Real Madrid: pick your favorite in the epic Champions League battle!

How to be a more profitable sports bettor ? Reliable bookmaker 1xBet offers the best betting conditions! Read our preview of the main match of the Champions League knockout phase play-offs, don’t forget about responsibility when making predictions and place your winning bets!

New pieces of the construction set

The 1-5 defeat to Arsenal showed that Man City are now very far from their best shape under Guardiola. The great coach is looking for a way out, but the 22nd place in the Champions League league phase is the most emphatic proof that the Catalan has a lot of work to do.

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Man City have enlisted Omar Marmoush, Nico González and Abdukodir Khusanov for the next phase of the main European club competition. Now Pep Guardiola has more tools to get results, but there are serious doubts that the winter newcomers can strengthen the team immediately. Man City are relying more on their well-established stars. However, even the best versions of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva or Erling Haaland have lost to Real Madrid more often than they have won. Clearly, the Sky Blues are missing Rodri. Rúben Dias, Nathan Aké, Ederson and Jérémy Doku are also having some health issues.

Patch the holes in the defense

While Man City will have an opportunity to save their energy in the FA Cup match against Leyton Orient on February 8, Real Madrid will be fighting in the tough derby against Atlético on the same day. Los Blancos are trapped in a most difficult schedule, and the task of finding enough resources for 2 top games in 3 days seems hard even for Carlo Ancelotti.

“You’ll score as many goals, as you can, and we’ll score as many goals, as we wish” – it seemed that Real Madrid could easily apply the Brazilian principle and beat any opponent with their starry offense. In reality, however, things turned out to be much more complicated. Lille, Milan and Liverpool have already proved that it’s possible to stop Madrid’s top forwards and overcome the Meringues’ defense. Real are experiencing big problems with Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba (again) injured. Perhaps, the club’s youngsters, Jacobo Ramón and Raúl Asencio, will play in the center of defense again.

H2H matches

Under Pep Guardiola, Man City have hosted Real Madrid 4 times, and they have very successful stats: 3 wins and 1 draw with an 11-5 goal difference.

Odds: W1 – 2.347, X – 4.045, W2 – 2.88

How to be a more profitable sports bettor ? Reliable bookmaker 1xBet offers its clients the best odds and the most profitable conditions! We’re sure that our preview will help you evaluate the chances of the European giants in their battle, make predictions responsibly and place your winning bets!