Real Madrid and Manchester City They face each other today in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. The duel between the giants seems to become a habit, it promises to be a power struggle like few others, the third consecutive tie between the Spanish and English in the last ones in the Uefa tournament.
In the 2022 edition, real Madrid They advanced to the final after losing 4-3 in the first leg and winning 3-1 in the second leg, and won the continental title, the 14th in their history. A year later, City took revenge in the semi-finals, drawing 1-1 in the first leg and beating 4-0 in the second leg and then crowned champion in Istanbul.
“We played without courage or personality. “Fundamental aspects in this type of match and we lacked them in the second leg,” the coach said yesterday at a press conference. Carlo Ancelotti when asked about that key.
The Italian coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti.
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The galactic duel will be galactic on the grass of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium due to the size of the teams and the lineup of the coaches. The team of Carlo Ancelotti He arrives with a slight advantage of having been without competing for more than a week.
“We have had time to prepare for the game and I am confident that we are going to get the best we have in every way. Mental, physical and technical,” said the Italian.
The big question for Ancelotti is who will occupy the central defense alongside Antonio Rüdiger, among Nacho Fernández and Aurélien Tchouaméni. Up front he will have all the firepower: Vinicius, Valverde, Rodrygo and Bellingham.
Coach Pep Guardiola was satisfied after his team's victory.
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On the other bench will be Pep Guardiola, a seasoned coach in these instances who knows that certain precautions must be taken against a rival of such caliber. “Winning Real Madrid twice in a row is practically impossible. The goal is not easy,” he said.
The Spanish coach traveled to Madrid with the significant casualties in defense of Nathan Aké and his captain Kyle Walker although it has the return of its starting goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, who returns from an injury.
Evening of the millions
The match promises to be the highlight of this phase of the Champions League, today, at the stadium Santiago Bernabeu, The two most expensive teams in European football are going to come out, which together have a market value of 2,300 million euros (1,070 million from Real Madrid and 1,270 million from Manchester City).
The current starting eleven of the merengue team is valued at 709 million euros, while the British team has a price of 900 million euros. The Englishman Jude Bellingham and the Norwegian Erling Haaland are the most precious jewels of each squad with a value of 180 million.
Bellingham scored his first goal in a classic.
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