The biggest cup competition in club soccer is back! After some exciting quarter-final matches, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Manchester City are the only four teams left in UCL 2022-23. As the first-leg semi-final matches approach, fans are expecting another series of exciting clashes to take their collective breaths away. The very first match of this particular round is set to take place between Real Madrid and Manchester City.
The contest is taking place on May 9 at the iconic Santiago Bernabeu, home of the reigning champions. On their way to the semi-final, Real Madrid has beaten a few British teams such as Celtics, Liverpool, and Chelsea. Interestingly, in the six matches against the aforementioned teams (including home and away legs), Real has scored 18 goals and has only conceded 3 times.
Manchester City, on the other hand, has faced only one Spanish opponent, Sevilla, in this edition of the UEFA Champions League so far. In their two clashes, Man City have scored 7 goals and conceded only once. In the quarter-finals, the Pep Guardiola-led team is coming off a 4-1 victory over German giants, Bayern Munich in the two legs. Both teams are in solid goal-scoring form and the question becomes, which team will proceed to the finals? Let’s find out.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City: match breakdown and prediction
Real Madrid are the 14-time UCL winners and they find themselves in yet another semi-final which gives them a chance to play their 18th UCL final! Despite the match taking place in their den, Real is not the favorite to win the first leg of the semi-final matchup. The Spanish giants are running into one of the, if not the best team in Europe at present.
The City team boasts ballers like Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, and Bernardo Silva in the midfield. In terms of wingers, they have dangerous and in-form players like Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Riyad Mahrez. However, perhaps the most important player in the team is the most in-form striker in the world, Erling Haaland. He has bagged a total of an obscene 51 goals in the 2022-23 season.
But Madrid matches City from punch to punch. They have the perfect balance of young blood and experience in the mid-field with the likes of Tony Kroos, Luca Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, and Federico Valverde. They also have perhaps the most potent winger in the world in Vinicius Jr. With the goal-scoring prowess of Rodrygo and Asensio, Real is always a threat to the opponents’ goal.
Last but not least, Real’s front line is led by Karim Benzema. The French maestro has scored 29 goals so far in the 2022-23 season. While the matchup seems pretty balanced in terms of the attack and midfield, Man City definitely has the edge in defense. While Madrid has defenders like Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger, their defense this season has let them down multiple times.
City, on the other hand, has bolstered its defense with the inclusion of Manuel Akanji. On top of that, Pep’s recent tactics of playing three centrebacks will allow John Stones and Ruben Dias to come into the game as well. It will be interesting to see if the Madrid defense can withhold in the face of the constant barrage of attacks from the City team or not.
However, judging by Madrid’s recent spotty record, fans can expect City to win the first leg, 2-1. But one can never count out Real Madrid, which pulled off the impossible in last year’s semi-final, where they beat City 6-5 in extra time. So it is going to be an exciting game regardless.
Madrid vs City: where to watch in the US?
As previously mentioned, Real Madrid vs Manchester City will take place on May 9 in Madrid. For soccer lovers in the US, the match is set to kick off at 3 pm ET/12 pm PT. So where can the fans catch the match? There are plenty of outlets for the fans to catch the broadcast live.
In terms of regular TV channels, fans can catch the broadcast on CBS, TUDN, and UniMas. Those, who want to stream the match live, can do so using Paramount+, fuboTV, and Univision.
