Manchester City and Real Madrid are about to face a Champions League semi-final that for both is almost the highlight of the season. Pep Guardiola's perfect machine, won in fact and for the umpteenth time the championship thanks to yesterday's defeat of Arsenal, now has in its sights the cup that he has never won and that the Spanish coach has not lifted since 2011, as well as the FA Cup. Missing the European goal once again, given the premises, would be a heavy blow for the Citizens, confident of beating Real on Wednesday, also taking revenge for the 2022 semi-final.
Guardiola is very happy to have the opportunity to achieve the historic Premier-Champions-FA Cup hat-trick. "It's a dream come true to have come true to have come this far, we are the only team in Europe still fighting for all competitions. We have nothing in our hands but the dream, but this is already an extraordinary result and we hope to complete it". If the blancos now rhyme with the Champions League, this time Ancelotti's team does not start favored against a City that is unbeaten for 22 games and that lines up in front of Erling Haaland.
The man with 52 goals in 48 games was left dry in the first leg and the calculation of the odds suggests that stopping him again will not be easy for the Spanish defenders. It will therefore take a super performance from Real, which will also have to find a way to overcome one of the strongest rearguards around, taking advantage of the skills of Vinicius and the experience of Benzema, a bit in the shade in the first leg. Both teams do not complain about absences and even at Real the alarm has returned for Camavinga, who left prematurely in Saturday's match with Getafe for a blow to a knee.