Manchester City and Real Madrid lock horns in the Champions League semifinal. The first leg of the UCL doubleheader is on the program on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at Etihad Stadium in England.
Oddsmakers see Man City as the favorite but knowing how brilliant Real Madrid has been this season, Los Blancos mustn’t be underestimated. As a reminder, Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 the last time they traveled to England (three weeks ago).
Manchester City vs Real Madrid Odds (Champions League, 2022)
Odds from bet365 on April 25.
1X2
| Manchester City | -222 |
| Draw | +375 |
| Real Madrid | +550 |
Over/Under
| Over 2.5 | -152 |
| Under 2.5 | +120 |
Where and When to Watch
- Date: Tuesday, April 26
- Time: 3:00 PM EDT
- Location: Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England
- Watch: CBS Sports
Manchester City Having Problems at the Back
The Sky Blues have been excellent in the offense over the last couple of weeks, scoring a total of 10 goals in the previous three games. They shouldn’t worry much about their attack, but their defense is what needs to worry them ahead of Tuesday’s game.
The thing is that a couple of Man City defenders might sit out the Real Madrid semifinal. Joao Cancelo is definitely out due to a yellow card suspension, while Kyle Walker and John Stones might not yet be fully recovered after getting injured.
On top of everything, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake are reportedly struggling with fitness. As a result, there are only two defenders from Man City’s Team A who are fully fit to play on Tuesday.
Real Madrid Players Looking Confident
Los Blancos have been in fantastic form in all the competitions they’re taking part in. In La Liga, they’re sitting at the top of the table with 15 points more than second-placed Barcelona (and #3 Sevilla). As there are only five more rounds left before the end, they’ve practically already won the domestic title.
Can they win another one? Although oddsmakers don’t give great chances to Los Blancos, these guys have upset the odds numerous times this season. As a reminder, they defeated PSG in the Round of 16 despite being underdogs. Pretty much the same happened in the quarterfinal against Chelsea.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid Prediction
Real Madrid’s no.9 Karim Benzema has been fantastic in the UCL this season, scoring a hat-trick against PSG, as well as against Chelsea in the first leg of the quarterfinal. Further, the striker also scored the winning goal in the extra time of the rematch with Chelsea, practically taking Real Madrid to the semifinal.
Knowing all this, Man City players will need to pay a lot of attention to Benzema. The bad news is that their defense is banged up, which means that in order to stop the Frenchman, they will need to get all 11 players involved.
As a result, we probably aren’t going to see Manchester City charging toward the opposition goal. In turn, we might not see too many goals on Tuesday. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a 0-0 or 1-1 draw happen at Etihad.
Picks: Manchester City and Real Madrid to draw; under 2.5 goals