Manchester City vs Real Madrid will be an incredible UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg on Tuesday (kick off, 3pm ET) as Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti lock horns at the Etihad Stadium.
[ MORE: Champions League picks, odds ]
City have swept by Sporting Lisbon and battled past Atletico Madrid so far in the knockout round, but this is their biggest challenge. Guardiola knows his time at City will only be deemed a roaring success if he can win the Champions League trophy and this season perhaps represents City’s best chance. The 2020-21 runners up have produced their best form for the big nights in Europe so far this campaign (against PSG and Atletico Madrid in particular) and they will have to do that once again to beat the La Liga leaders who they knocked out at the last 16 stage in 2019-20.
Carlo Ancelotti’s experience side needed extra time to get past Chelsea in the quarterfinals but with Karim Benzema in sensational form up top, Luka Modric pulling the strings in midfield and a solid, dependable squad who have been in this situation so many times before, Real will be ready for the fight. With the La Liga title all but secured, Real can now focus fully on the Champions League.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City vs Real Madrid.
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How to watch Manchester City vs Real Madrid live, stream link, and start time
Kick off: 3pm ET Tuesday (April 26)
Online: Live updates via NBCSports.com
How to watch: TUDN, Paramount+
Manchester City vs Real Madrid live updates
81′ — PENALTY!! Aymeric Laporte’s headed big to clear a cross then hit his outstretched arm and Karim Benzema heads to the spot, chipping the penalty home for a GOAL. 4-3, Man City.
74′ — GOOOOOAAAALLL, 4-2!! It’s a fourth for Man City as Bernardo Silva scores a sensational goal after Oleksandr Zinchenko was cut down by Toni Kroos and the referee played advantage, Silva turning into the box and smashing home inside the near post.
55′ — GOOOOAAAAALLLL, 3-2!!! Vinicius gets his revenge on Fernandinho, blazing by the makeshift right back and Aymeric Laporte cannot make up the ground. Vinicius gets to the doorstep of Ederson before slotting behind the keeper.
🔥 Vinicius with a simply incredible goal. Wow. #MCFC 3-2 #RMFC #MCIRMA
🎥 @TUDNUSA #UCL pic.twitter.com/L2olwEurR2
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) April 26, 2022
53′ —- GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL!! Fernandinho beats Vinicius Junior to a loose ball and feeds the ball to the back post, where Foden victimizes Carvajal (again) for 3-1. Wow. A shellacking.
¡Goooool del Manchester City! 🔥😎
¡Por fin! Después de tanto fallar, Phil Foden cabecea y manda a guardar el tercer balón en el arco de Courtois. 👏@ManCityES 3-1 @realmadrid#TuChampions | #ManCity | #RealMadrid
🔴 ¡EN VIVO!
📺 TUDN y @univision
📱: https://t.co/bfnXPhQn1K pic.twitter.com/4JznkBYcuJ— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) April 26, 2022
47′ — GAFFE!! Eder Militao bungles the chance to take the ball off of a lunging Riyad Mahrez, instead putting the Algerian through on goal. Mahrez beats the keeper but not the far post, and Phil Foden blasts the rebound on goal but it’s cleared off the line by Carvajal.
HT STATS
Shot attempts: Man City 7, Real Madrid 5
Shots on goal: Man City 2, Real Madrid 2
Possession: Man City 60, Real Madrid 40
HT — MAN CITY 2, REAL MADRID 1 — Pep Guardiola won’t be angry to be leading but he’ll know that Benzema goal could’ve been the only Real goal in a five-goal first half. Carlo Ancelotti will be super relieved to be trailing by just one goal.
36′ — Real wins another corner, and now City has to make a change as John Stones limps off. With Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo unavailable through injury and suspensions, respectively, Fernandinho enters the fray to take the captain’s armband and slide into right back. Will Real be able to take advantage of the veteran midfielder’s new positionm.
34′ — GOOOOOAAALLLLL! Real is back in the fight and Man City will be lamenting those wasted chances. Ferland Mendy’s hopeful cross and expertly turned inside the goal by Karim Benzema — of course it’s him — and we’re back in a one-goal game.
¡Gooooool del Real Madrid! 😎
¿Quién más? ¡Benzema! Lo de toda la temporada. Cuando peor lo pasaban los merengues, una individualidad lo resuelve. 👏@ManCityES 2-1 @realmadrid#TuChampions | #ManCity | #RealMadrid
🔴 ¡EN VIVO!
📺 TUDN y @univision
📱: https://t.co/bfnXPhQn1K pic.twitter.com/Zzwbw5quwt— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) April 26, 2022
31′ — Another miss, and just!!! De Bruyne hits Foden with an entry into the box but the Englishman’s first touch is not perfect and he’s dragged his shot just wide of the far post. Still 2-0 City. Could be four.
27′ — Riyad Mahrez WYD?!?!? The Algerian gets the benefit of De Bruyne’s hard work at midfield and is rushing down on Thibaut Courtois. Mahrez has a not easy but also not terribly difficult cut back for Phil Foden, but instead carves a shot off the outside of the goal. It really should’ve been 3-0. If you take that shot, you’d better know it’s going in…
18′ — It’s only barely getting better for Real Madrid, which has now had some time with the ball but still looks somewhat shook when Man City takes the wheel. Bernardo Silva now leaves the ball for De Bruyne as City works forward, passing the ball with ease until Carvajal forces a throw-in.
10′ — GOOOOOOOAAALLLL!!!! 2-0, MAN CITY — This time De Bruyne’s on the service, and David Alaba scraps with Gabriel Jesus for the ball only to see it break for the Brazilian. The man who scored four goals against Watford on Saturday makes it five in four days. Wow. What a start.
IT'S ALL CITY. (🎥 @CBSSportsGolazo) pic.twitter.com/PtcSeLqM7h
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 26, 2022
2′ — GOOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! — Riyad Mahrez parts the seas on the right side and swerves a ball over a pack of players to a diving Kevin De Bruyne, whose brave header beats the ball just in front of Dani Carvajal’s high kick and it’s 1-0 to City.
¡Gooooooooooooool del Manchester City! 🔥
De Bruyne cabecea solo y su alma en el área y hace estallar al estadio apenas a los dos minutos. 😎@ManCityES 1-0 @realmadrid#TuChampions | #ManCity | #RealMadrid
🔴 ¡EN VIVO!
📺 TUDN y @univision
📱: https://t.co/bfnXPhQn1K pic.twitter.com/SG3iwkst5h— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) April 26, 2022
2:50pm ET: The lineups see some heavyweights on the bench, as Casemiro, Marco Asensio, and Isco won’t start for Real Madrid and Raheem Sterling, Iljay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish are subs for Man City. Joao Cancelo is suspended for City and Kyle Walker misses out on a start. How much will those absences affect the Premier League leaders.
Manchester City team news, injuries, lineup
Ederson, Stones, Dias, Laporte, Zinchemko, Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, Jesus
Real Madrid team news, injuries, lineup
Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Valverde, Modric, Kroos, Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, Benzema
Manchester City vs Real Madrid odds (full odds provided by our partner, PointsBet)
(-215) Manchester City vs Real Madrid (+550). Draw: +360
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