Real Madrid – Manchester City

In the central match of the game day, the English club will at least not lose.

Without a doubt, the central match of the Champions League matchday will take place at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Here, the winners of three out of the last four editions of the elite European tournament will face off. Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2022 and 2024, setting another record for the number of trophies. Manchester City became the champion in 2023, reaching such heights for the first time in its history. Now both teams are setting maximum goals for themselves both in national arenas and in European competitions, but they are going through the season somewhat erratically. Perhaps, in the context of the Champions League, this does not seem so problematic. We all remember how last season Liverpool left no one with a chance in the group stage, while PSG barely made it to the knockout stage. It ended up being the Parisians who became the champions. Betting companies have identified the home team as the favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.34 on their victory. Real Madrid has not been able to add anything to its tally in the last month and a half. After defeating Barcelona in La Liga, the 'whites' celebrated so much that in November they played three consecutive draws. Moreover, the opponents were not from the top tier of the league: Elche, Girona, and Rayo Vallecano. Such wastefulness led the team to lose its first position, which was previously earned in a tough battle with Barcelona. In the Champions League, the royal club won four out of five matches, but the only meeting with an English team resulted in defeat. Real Madrid managed to lose to Liverpool at a time when the Merseyside club began to lose 'left and right.' Manchester City is having a wave-like season. The team either strings together a series of victories or loses absurdly. At times, they play reliably in defense, and at others, they concede ten goals in three matches. Guardiola still has a lot of work to do to revive the 'citizens,' but overall, the team is on the right track. In the last three matches, Manchester City won, scoring a total of eleven goals against Leeds, Fulham, and Sunderland. In the previous round of the Champions League, Guardiola experimented with the lineup, which led to a loss against Bayer. This time, no experiments are expected; we will place a bet in favor of the visitors.