Real Madrid v Manchester City predictions, betting tips and odds

Racing Post

08 May 2023

Where to watch Real Madrid v Manchester City

Best bet

Manchester City
1pt 6-5 bet365, Betfair, Hills

Real Madrid v Manchester City odds

Real Madrid 11-5
Manchester City 6-5
Draw 13-5

Odds correct at time of publishing

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Real Madrid v Manchester City team news

Real Madrid
Ferland Mendy has missed the last six weeks with a calf strain but Luka Modric recovered from a hamstring injury to appear as a late substitute in the Copa del Rey final. Eder Militao serves a one-match ban.

Manchester City
Nathan Ake is a doubt and Cole Palmer is ruled out but Kevin De Bruyne shook off a minor injury to start at the weekend and is expected to continue.

Real Madrid v Manchester City predictions

Manchester City are the only Champions League semi-finalists chasing their first success in the competition but they look the best equipped to secure the trophy and can get the better of 14-time winners Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

There is undoubtedly a vast gulf between Real and City in terms of European pedigree but the only gap that City will be concerned about is the lead they hope to establish before next Wednesday's return leg at the Etihad.

City will have plenty of respect for their illustrious hosts, who have been Champions League winners seven times since the turn of the millennium, but they will be equally aware of their own ability, which they showed off when registering a 4-1 aggregate success over Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

City did the heavy lifting against Bayern with a 3-0 first leg success at the Etihad, and they will be eager to start quickly against Real, who are a dangerous counter-attacking side.

Pep Guardiola's side have scored the opening goal in each of their last 20 matches and they will strive to ask early questions of Real, who have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last four matches.

Real were crowned Club World Cup Champions in February and added a second major trophy to the cabinet on Saturday by defeating Osasuna 2-1 in the Copa del Rey final.

However, their victory over Osasuna was far from convincing and it continued a recent trend of sketchy performances.

Los Blancos have lost two of their last three La Liga matches, going down 4-2 at Girona and 2-0 at Real Sociedad, and have slipped to third in the table, 14 points adrift of leaders Barcelona and a point behind city rivals Atletico.

The Champions League will hold almost all of their attention for the rest of the season and their chances of troubling City will be boosted if veteran midfielder Luka Modric is fit enough to play an influential role. However, the 37-year-old Croatian has been suffering from hamstring problems and was not introduced until the 82nd minute of Saturday's Copa del Rey final.

If Real are below strength in midfield, their defence, which will be without suspended centre-back Eder Militao, may soon come under intolerable pressure from the Citizens, who seem to be approaching peak performance at an ideal stage of the season.

City seemed to lose concentration and focus towards the end of Saturday's 2-1 success at home to Leeds but their players will relish the arrival of another big game.

They delivered against strong opposition in April with convincing home victories over Arsenal and Bayern and there is little chance of them lowering their standards against Real.

Another three-goal success may be beyond even City's powers, but a first-leg success looks well within their capabilities and is worthy of a wager at odds against.

Key stat

Manchester City have won 15 of their last 16 matches

Probable teams

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Lunin, Nacho, Ceballos, Asensio, Tchouameni, Vallejo, Vazquez, Hazard, Odriozola.

Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva, Grealish; Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Mahrez, Lewis, Laporte, Foden, Alvarez, Phillips, Gomez, Carson.