Real Madrid host Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League Semi-Final in an 8pm BST kick-off on Tuesday evening. The reigning champions of European football’s elite competition take on a Citizens team still dreaming of winning the competition for the first time and completing a historic treble. The Premier League looks in good order for Pep Guardiola’s men whilst they have Manchester United in the FA Cup Final in June. Here are my Champions League betting tips for the big game.
Los Blancos Searching for Back-to-Back Champions League Trophies
Real Madrid are the reigning Champions League champions after beating Liverpool in the final last year by a 1-0 score. They now go in search of their record-breaking 15th Champions League title. There isn’t much that you could call a weakness in the Real Madrid team and they knocked out Manchester City last year after losing the first leg away from home 4-3 before winning the home leg 3-1 and progressing to the Final where they defeated Liverpool by that single goal.
Vinicius Junior scored the goal that day and he will most definitely once again be of danger in this match. Not to mention the likes of Rodrygo and Karim Benzema. Real Madrid have won 7 out of their last 8 home matches and will go into this match knowing they need a result in the home leg if they are to stand a real chance of reaching another final in this competition.
City on a Freebie?
Of course, it’s not a freebie, but City have the advantage tonight of knowing that they still have to play a 2nd leg at the Etihad. It is a stadium where they have won their last 14 matches in a row. They can go into this match with a counter-attacking style, sit back, and try to get a few chances to take a draw or even nick a win. Of course, Manchester City are not going to want to show that kind of perceived weakness.
However, in Champions League football you can’t be so naive in your play. It’s something Arsene Wenger did wrong in all his years with Arsenal and why they had no real success in the Champions League, in my opinion. There is a feeling that Guardiola has a bit more nous about him than Wenger though so it’ll be interesting to see how they approach this game.
Head-to-Head Meetings
This will be the third time in the last four years that these two have met in the Champions League. City beat Real back in 2019/2020 in the last 16. They won that one 4-2 on aggregate with two 2-1 wins coming both home and away. Real have beaten City in both Semi-Final matches including the most recent last year with a 6-5 aggregate win after extra time.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Betting Tips
It is a tie like this that makes the Champions League such a brilliant competition. Real Madrid and Manchester City are arguably two of the best clubs in the world right now and here they are going toe-to-toe. Last season, we saw an absolute classic with both teams going for it from start to finish. I fully expect to see a similar match play out here. I can see Real Madrid grabbing the win but it’ll be frenetic with both teams scoring.
Both Teams to Score @ 8/13 with Bet365
Real Madrid to Win and BTTS @ 9/2 with Bet365
All odds are accurate at the time of writing.
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