Champions League: Real Madrid eye comeback; Manchester City stay calm

By
Sayantan Sengupta
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Manchester: Manchester City will host Real Madrid in the second leg of the round of 16 at Etihad Stadium on Friday as Champions League returns back to action after a long gap of four and a half months due to COVID-19 crisis. The match will be played closed doors like other matches post lockdown. 

In the first leg, City had the last laugh winning the tie 2-1, and it will be interesting to see how the recently-crowned Spanish champions fare against Pep Guardiola’s men. 

Real look a confident side after claiming their 34th La Liga title despite missing the services of captain Sergio Ramos due to card issues. However, they will have to depend on Rafael Varane and Eder Militiano in defence with Dani Carvajal and Marcelo as two wing-backs.

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Casemiro will play a big role in this game as he is the man who can stop the Kevin De Bryune threat, with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric for offence. Madrid will be heavily dependent on Karim Benzema up front, who had a prolific season with 22 goals in the league.

Eden Hazard will also play a pivotal role having played against City during his seven-year stay at Premier League with Chelsea. Regarding Gareth Bale, Real manager Zinedine Zidane said, ‘He didn’t want to play this match’, casting more doubts against his relation with the Welshman.


On the other hand, Guardiola has praised Zidane and Benzema in the pre-match press conference. Like Ramos, City will be missing their talisman, Sergio Aguero due to injury meaning they will have to depend on Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus for goals so as Belgian superstar De Bruyne. While defence has been a matter of concern for City, they are still hopeful of wining the tie.

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