Real Madrid will be hosting Manchester City in one of the last-16 matches in the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League season tonight in Spain.
With the Premier League trophy out of reach for the Citizens this season, the Champions League trophy is their main target.
However, the battle with the Spanish giants will not be an easy one for the reigning English champions.
Guardiola’s Record
Pep Guardiola has an excellent record at the Bernabeu and he will be hoping to extend that run.
Guardiola has only lost once as a manager against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, in eight visits.
He won five of those games against Los Blancos; all of which came as Barcelona boss.
Team news
As the two European giants are set to trade tackles, here are the players who will not be available for the duo tonight:
Raheem Sterling is back for Manchester City after three weeks out with a hamstring injury and is in contention to start.
Aymeric Laporte also trained as usual on Tuesday after coming off early in City’s 1-0 win over Leicester – only his third start since recovering from a serious knee injury.
Leroy Sane is continuing his rehabilitation following a long-term injury of his own and will remain in Manchester.
Sane has been out of action since the Community Shield in August, but fans were hoping to see the German’s return before the latter stages of the Champions League kicked off.
Sane was involved in training on Tuesday morning in Manchester.
But the club revealed later in the day that he wasn’t included in the 22-man squad that travelled to Madrid.
On their own part, Real Madrid will be without playmaker Eden Hazard, who is facing another layoff after fracturing an ankle in Real’s surprise defeat to Levante in La Liga last weekend.
But Gareth Bale is back in Zinedine Zidane’s squad after missing the Levante game with gastroenteritis.
Manchester City predicted line-up
Ederson will be continuing in goal for City, with Claudio Bravo on the bench.
Kyle Walker has been excellent this season, and he’ll start ahead of Joao Cancelo, while Oleksandr Zinchenko could start ahead of Benjamin Mendy.
Guardiola may choose to play John Stones against Real Madrid, as he’s usually called upon for the big games. He’s also usually reliable in those matches.
Stones will be partnered by Laporte, who is arguably City’s most important player.
Rodri will start ahead of Fernandinho in the holding midfield role, while Kevin De Bruyne is expected to start slightly ahead of him.
The Belgian will be partnered by David Silva, who was rested against Leicester City on Saturday night.
Riyad Mahrez is likely to start, as Sterling and Sane fail to make the team.
Bernardo Silva may be forced into operating on the left-hand side of attack.
He’ll be supporting striker Sergio Aguero, who will be desperate to knock-out Real Madrid as a favour to his former team, and Los Blancos’ rivals, Atletico Madrid.
(4-3-3) Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; Rodri, De Bruyne, D.Silva; Mahrez, B.Silva, Aguero
Real Madrid predicted line-up
Hazard’s absence means Gareth Bale is in contention to return to the starting XI, having sat out at the weekend due to illness.
Isco could retain his spot on the opposite flank, although Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez are further options but Rodrygo has not been included in the 19-man squad.
Karim Benzema is almost certain to lead the line, having scored 18 goals across all competitions so far this season, while Luka Jovic will have to be content with a spot on the bench.
Federico Valverde could come back into midfield at the expense of Luka Modric but Casemiro and Toni Kroos are both expected to hold onto their starting berths.
Meanwhile, Ferland Mendy will hope to replace Marcelo at left-back but the rest of the rearguard should remain unchanged.
That means Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal will complete the back four while Thibaut Courtois will start between the sticks.
Eder Militao, Alphonse Areola and Diego Altube complete the matchday squad while James Rodriguez, Mariano and Nacho fail to make the cut.
(4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Mendy; Casemiro, Valverde, Kroos; Bale, Isco, Benzema
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