English side Manchester City will square up against Spanish giants Real Madrid in their first ever UEFA Champions League semi final appearance.
The first leg of the two leg encounter will take place at the Etihad on Tuesday night, leaving Manchester City with the opportunity to fashion out a home advantage before heading to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men have exceeded expectation in the Champions league with just a handful of people tipping them to go past the group stages. They have the individual brilliance of some players as well as a calm head to thank for their eventual progress.
They face a Real Madrid side who are trailing Barcelona in the La Liga and needed to pull a terrific comeback against Wolfsburg to qualify for the semi final. Real Madrid possesses an attacking threat that is truly deadly but if both teams have anything in common, its their shaky defence.
Real Madrid hardly seem to be able to go through a match without conceding two goals while City’s pairing of Mangala and Otamendi looks shakier than three men with Parkinson’s disease. It will gladden City fans to hear of the return of captain Vincent Kompany who is something of a calming influence at the back.
This match is definitely going to see a lot of goals and it remains to be seen if Zinedine Zidane can guide Madrid to a UEFA Champions League final in his first season as manager.
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