Manchester City’s bid to reach a second successive final pits them against Real Madrid, who are in the semi-finals for the tenth time in 12 seasons.
This is only City’s third UEFA Champions League semi-final, all in the last seven seasons, with the first having ended in defeat by Madrid, although the English club gained a measure of revenge with a last-16 elimination of the Spanish side in 2019/20.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men reached the semi-final after securing a 5-4 aggregate win over title holders Chelsea.
On the other hand, Pep Guardiola’s men powered into the last four after sealing a 1-0 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals.
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Losing finalists last season, City are eager to make amends, but the 13-time European champions are a huge obstacle in their path. These sides met in the semi-finals in 2015/16, drawing 0-0 in Manchester before Fernando’s own goal at the Santiago Bernabéu took Real Madrid to the final, where they beat city rivals Atlético on penalties. Pep Guardiola’s side avenged that defeat in 2019/20, beating the Merengues 2-1 away and then at home in the round of 16, but the stakes are much higher this time.
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Éder Militão, Alaba, Mendy; Modrić, Casemiro, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinícius Júnior
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Rúben Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
Previous meetings
• City were 2-1 winners in both legs against Madrid in the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League round of 16 despite falling behind in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu on 26 February when Isco gave the home side a 60th-minute lead. Late goals from Gabriel Jesus (78) and Kevin De Bruyne (83), the latter a penalty after Raheem Sterling had been fouled by Dani Carvajal, turned the game around, Madrid ending with ten men as captain Sergio Ramos was dismissed four minutes from time after fouling Jesus.
• That was City’s first victory against Madrid but they clinched their aggregate win with a second in the delayed second leg in Manchester on 7 August. Although Sterling’s ninth-minute goal was levelled 19 minutes later by Benzema, Jesus secured another 2-1 victory in the 68th minute.
• There was only one goal in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League semi-final between the clubs. After the first game in Manchester ended scoreless, a 20th-minute own goal from Fernando at the Santiago Bernabéu proved enough to take Zinédine Zidane’s Madrid into the final, where they beat Atlético on penalties, at the expense of Manuel Pellegrini’s City.
• The sides’ only other competitive fixtures came in the 2012/13 group stage, when Madrid twice came from behind to win 3-2 in Spain on Matchday 1. City led twice through Edin Džeko (68) and Aleksandar Kolarov (85) but Madrid responded through Marcelo (76) and Benzema (87) before Cristiano Ronaldo snatched a 90th-minute victory.
• It was 1-1 in Manchester, Sergio Agüero’s penalty cancelling out Benzema’s tenth-minute strike. Madrid ended with ten men as Álvaro Arbeloa collected a second yellow card in fouling Agüero to concede that spot kick.
• Those four points helped José Mourinho’s Madrid finish second in Group D, behind Borussia Dortmund; City, then managed by Roberto Mancini, ended bottom with three points having not won a game.
