Real Madrid made things much tougher for themselves by losing their quarterfinal first leg away to Wolfsburg. Thankfully for them, the great Cristiano Ronaldo was on hand to bail them out eventually. But with the Portuguese superstar’s fitness in doubt, can the Spanish giants still come away victorious away from home in their semifinal first leg against Manchester City?
Get a complete breakdown of Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal action below. Meanwhile, check out our preview of the other semifinal, Atletico Madrid vs. Bayern Munich.
April has been Manchester City’s month. After going winless in their last three games in March, City have since gone seven games unbeaten (five wins, two draws). That includes their quarterfinal triumph over two legs against Paris Saint-Germain (3-2 on aggregate).
Unsurprisingly, that impressive run has coincided with the return of Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian midfielder has scored three goals since his return from a knee injury, two coming in Europe against PSG. He was rested in City’s latest 4-0 home win over Stoke over the weekend, so he should be fresh and ready to go for Real.
The form of star striker Sergio Aguero has also been very encouraging. He didn’t find the net over two legs against PSG, but he’s been outstanding in the Premier League with seven goals in his last five games.
Real are always a bit vulnerable at the back, as evidenced by their 2-0 away leg defeat to Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals. With De Bruyne and Aguero leading a very capable City attack which has scored 45 goals in 35 home games in the league, they stand a very good chance of taking an advantage back to Spain.
Speaking of chances, there’s also a possibility captain Vincent Kompany could make his return to the lineup against Real. Having Kompany back at the heart of the City defense would be a huge boost for the team. However, the likes of Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi have stepped up in Kompany’s absence. City have allowed just one goal in their last four matches.
Betting on Real Madrid
Real Madrid faltered in the first leg of the quarterfinals against Wolfsburg, but they showed in the second leg just how dangerous they are. Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick guided the Spanish giants to a 3-0 win in the home leg, the result they needed to progress to the semifinals.
That hat-trick raised Ronaldo’s total in this year’s competition to an incredible 16 goals, twice as many as his closest competitors.
However, Real are still sweating on Ronaldo’s fitness for the first leg after he suffered a leg muscle injury last week. He didn’t feature over the weekend against Rayo Vallecano, but it speaks to Real’s wealth of attacking options that he wasn’t entirely missed. Gareth Bale stepped up in Ronaldo’s absence with two goals in their 3-2 win.
Karim Benzema is also an injury concern for Real, but both he and Ronaldo have made the trip to England. There’s a good chance one or both of them plays at least some part in the first leg. In case they don’t, though, Real are one of the few teams in Europe with the world-class talent to compensate, with the likes of James Rodriguez and Jese in reserve.
It’s not Real’s M.O. to sit back and defend even away from home, so expect them to continue pushing men forward. And with City also obliged to attack as the home team, Real have the speed and the quality to exploit spaces in a City defense that’s still not entirely airtight.
Writer’s Prediction
Ronaldo and Benzema play, but aren’t 100 percent as City (+173) capitalize with a 2-1 home win.
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