Real Madrid v Manchester City: Champions League semi-final, first leg – live –
Subs: Lunin, Lopez, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard, Asensio, Odriozola, Vazquez, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Mariano.
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Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Grealish, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis.
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Referee: Artur Dias (Portgual).
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📋✅ Our starting 𝗫𝗜!
🆚 @ManCity#UCLpic.twitter.com/zdEMNJ6ZCO— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 9, 2023
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Tonight's line-up! 🌟
XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis#ManCitypic.twitter.com/nIkzsU6Q5q
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 9, 2023
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The reigning and 14-time European champions against the team widely recognised as the best in the world right now: shame it’s not the final, right? Well, perhaps. But on the other hand, this way we get twice as much summit-meeting fun. The first leg kicks off at the Bernabéu is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s Modric, Benzema and Vinicius Junior versus De Bruyne, Silva and Haaland! It’s on!
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Key events
The teams are out! Real Madrid in their meringue whites, Manchester City in their Milan-influenced red and black. The Bernabeu atmosphere blistering hot despite the clouds in the sky. Both teams 120 minutes away from Istanbul! We’ll be off in a couple of minutes, after a quick blast of Zadok the Priest (Version), but in the meantime, here’s Justin Winter with an email that doesn’t end up where it looks to be inexorably heading: “Henry Kissinger said of the Iran-Iraq war ‘It’s a pity they both can’t lose.’ This match is a classic Kissinger derby. One side forever tainted by its association with Franco, the other by its association with the Gallagher brothers.”
Pep Guardiola speaks to BT Sport. “A semi-final of the Champions League is already a challenge in itself … of course there are two good teams … we need a good performance … we have to play two good games … last season we did two good games but we were not able to make the final … every minute has to be played with a high level … in the latter stages, every team has a special threat, hopefully we can use it more than them.”
Pre-match mood setting. Rodri bullishly claims …
… however the good doctor warns …
… but on balance a World Cup winner suggests …
Pre-match postbag. “This should be a good one (cue 0-0 draw). But it might just come down to which keeper is better today. And we have all seen Courtois do Courtois things. Advantage Madrid” – Joe Pearson
“Haaland has many attributes, but one that I feel is overlooked is his ability to hang on the last defender and still rarely be flagged or VAR’d offside. As a Chelsea fan he reminds me of an anti-Werner” – Brendan Large
“Just as everyone overestimates Pep and underestimates Ancelotti, so the same can be said concerning Real and City. Best team in the world?! Please, who are the champions of the Champions League?! Who knocked City out? City are chokers. They cannot win, even with Haaland” – Jeff Sax
“I don’t think this has ever happened before, but this year the Champions League semi-final clashes with the semi-final of that other Pan-European contest that matters more than it should, Eurovision. With luck, both competitions will feature the highest and lowest of emotions, and somebody becoming a legend forever either through outrageous talent or a colossal eff-up” – Kári Tulinius
Tonight’s coaches have a scarcely believable six Champions League titles between them. You want historical context? We got historical context!
4
CARLO ANCELOTTI (Milan, Real Madrid)
3
Bob Paisley (Liverpool), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
2
Jose Villalonga (Real Madrid), Luis Carniglia (Real Madrid), Bela Guttmann (Benfica), Helenio Herrera (Internazionale), Miguel Munoz (Real Madrid), Nereo Rocco (Milan), Stefan Kovacs (Ajax), Dettmar Cramer (Bayern Munich), Brian Clough (Nottingham Forest), Ernst Happel (Feyenoord, Hamburg), Arrigo Sacchi (Milan), Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich), Vicente del Bosque (Real Madrid), Alex Ferguson (Manchester United), Jose Mourinho (Porto, Internazionale), PEP GUARDIOLA (Barcelona), Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid, Bayern Munich)
… and that’s not counting the three titles they won as players, Ancelotti winning two for Milan, Pep one for Barca. Yep, this is a summit meeting all right.
¡Fútbol!¡Infierno sangriento! A reminder of what happened here last year. Like anybody really needs reminding.
Real Madrid make two changes to the XI that started the 2-1 Copa Del Rey final victory over Osasuna on Saturday. Luka Modric replaces Aurelien Tchouameni in midfield, the France international dropping to the bench, while at the back Antonio Rudiger stands in for the suspended Eder Militao.
Manchester City make six changes to their starting XI after the closer-than-it-should-have-been 2-1 victory over Leeds on Saturday. Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish are in. Aymeric Laporte, Julian Alvarez, Rico Lewis, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden drop to the bench, while Nathan Ake is injured.
The teams
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga, Valverde, Kroos, Modric, Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
Subs: Lunin, Lopez, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard, Asensio, Odriozola, Vazquez, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Mariano.
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Grealish, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis.
Referee: Artur Dias (Portgual).
📋✅ Our starting 𝗫𝗜!
🆚 @ManCity#UCLpic.twitter.com/zdEMNJ6ZCO
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 9, 2023
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Tonight's line-up! 🌟
XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis#ManCitypic.twitter.com/nIkzsU6Q5q
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 9, 2023
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Tonight’s line-up! 🌟
XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis#ManCitypic.twitter.com/nIkzsU6Q5q
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 9, 2023
Preamble
The reigning and 14-time European champions against the team widely recognised as the best in the world right now: shame it’s not the final, right? Well, perhaps. But on the other hand, this way we get twice as much summit-meeting fun. The first leg kicks off at the Bernabéu is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s Modric, Benzema and Vinicius Junior versus De Bruyne, Silva and Haaland! It’s on!
