It is a look that we have become used to this season: Manchester City throws leads away and capitulates to dramatic defeats.
Their last such collapse came last week, when Real Madrid drifted back from 2-1 after 80 minutes to win 3-2 in the Etihad Stadium.
Former city player Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham got the late goals and Erling Haaland's Double, with the efforts of the striker that have come on either side of a Kylian Mbappe equalizer.
Pep Guardiola will hope that the 4-0 hammer of Newcastle United in the Premier League will start the recovery process in the Premier League, but a completely different matter is towards Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu.
Here we watch the competition with the help of Opta -Feiten.
Next: a trip to the Bernabeu #asahisuperdry pic.twitter.com/0V9MTBMOJC
– Manchester City (@Mancity) 17 February 2025
What is expected?
Madrid were the victors in 48% of the 10,000 simulations that the OPTA -Supercomputer performed.
City has a chance of 29.4% on the victory, while the draw is 22.6%.
Los Blancos has only lost one of their six UEFA Champions League home matches against City (W3 D2) and dropped 2-1 in the round of 16 in 2019-2020.
The first stage last week was the first time that City lost a Champions League match in which they led during the break since April 2018 (1-2 V Liverpool), which was unbeaten in 32 games (W29 D3) in advance.
But it was the third time that City had lost a Champions League match in which they had led twice, with all three such authorities against Madrid.
Defense first for City?
We all know what the city can do in the future, but their defense has been the most important problem this period.
This season City has admitted 57 goals in 39 games in all competitions, three more than in 59 matches in previous term. Only in 2016-17 (60) did they admit more in a campaign under Pep Guardiola.
They also did not succeed in winning one of their last four Champions League matches in which they first scored, with all this season.
City has lost nine of their 27 Champions League meetings with Spanish opponents, almost twice as many defeats than against parties of another nation (five versus French and German teams). Indeed, their nine losses versus Spanish teams account for 28% of their general defeats in the competition (9/32).
They have each lost their last three in the competition. Only once did they have the last four in a row in the competition (under Roberto Mancini between 2011 and 2012), while this is already Guardiola's longest losing series away from home in the Champions League.
Last week was the fifth time that City lost the first stage of a knockout of the Champions League, which is eliminated with each of the previous four times.
Madrid's Champions League Magic
Madrid has an incredible appearance around them in this competition, which they have won 15 times.
Their victory last week was the 40th time that they have won the first stage of a European knockout stage, away from Huis-Ze have been advanced from 37 of the previous 39, only failure against Odense Boldklub (UEFA Cup 1994-95) and Ajax (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 (2018 -19 Champions League).
Madrid just did not score in one of their last 78 Champions League home matches (207 goals scored), and made this in a 3-0 loss for CSKA Moscow in December 2018.
This is the 10th Champions League meeting between Carlo Ancelotti and Guardiola.
They will be the first managers who are in the competition 10 times, of which eight have come while they are in charge of their current clubs.
Ancelotti has so far won four of the nine meetings (D3 L2), while he never lost at home to Guardiola in the competition (W2 D2).
Players to watch
Real Madrid – Jude Bellingham
Last week's hero, Bellingham was involved in Controverse during the weekend when he was sent away in Laliga and wake anger from Madrid.
Bellingham has scored more Champions League goals against Manchester City than he has versus every other opponent (three). It is also the joint highest number of goals that an English player has scored against an English opponent in the competition (Frank Lampard, also three VS Liverpool).
Man City – Erling Haaland
City, however, has a history yacht striker in the form of Haaland.
The 24-year-old scored 49 goals in 48 Champions League matches, with his brace in the first stage his first strikes against Madrid.
A goal here would see him the fastest up to 50 goals in terms of both performances and age (24 years 213 days).
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