Real Madrid vs Manchester City Prediction and Betting Preview 26 Feb 2020

Here's our Real Madrid vs Man City Prediction analysis: Real Madrid vs Manchester City Prediction

Manchester City take on Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.

Match status: 2019-20 Champions League - Play Offs - 1/8-finals
Kick-off: Wednesday 26 Feb 2020, 09:00pm CET
 Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid)

Here Is What to Avoid When Placing the Correct Score

3y ago

Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City head into the match on the back of successive domestic wins, while Madrid have relinquished control at the top of La Liga in recent weeks.

Manchester City head to Real Madrid this week as they step up preparations for a huge Champions League double-header against Zinedine Zidane’s side.

Los Blancos have seen Barcelona overtake them at the top of La Liga following a draw and defeat in their last two games and Man City will be looking to take advantage.

Pep Guardiola will be well aware of how important the Champions League is to City supporters after it was announced they are facing a ban from the competition for the next two years.

Can they pull out all the stops and gain victory on Spanish soil?

Real Madrid vs Manchester City Team News

City were rocked by UEFA's announcement on February 14 that they have been expelled from European football competitions for the next two seasons for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations. The Citizens have pleaded their innocence and have vowed to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

As things stand, though, the club will not have another chance to crack the Champions League until 2022-23, by which point a number of key players - and indeed boss Pep Guardiola - will likely have moved on.

Guardiola's men have got their league campaign back on track with wins over West Ham United and Leicester City over the past week. All that has done, though, is ensure they will almost certainly not finish any higher or lower than second place.

The only way this campaign can now be considered a success is to go all the way on the continent, which they have been unable to come close to achieving in any of their eight previous seasons in the competition.

Zinedine Zidane 's men have also been far from convincing domestically, with their Copa del Rey campaign being ended by Real Sociedad earlier this month and their lead at the top of La Liga completely evaporating.

A 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo and last weekend's 1-0 loss at Levante has allowed Barcelona, themselves pretty mediocre for the majority of 2019-20, to take a two-point lead at the top.

Crashing out of the Champions League stage in the first knockout round for a second season running will be pretty disastrous for Madrid, even more so if their underwhelming form continues domestically.

However, Zidane has won all 12 Champions League ties he has been involved in as Madrid manager and currently holds three Champions League trophies as a head coach, a joint-record alongside Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti.

At the end of the second leg, it will either be Zidane or Guardiola left picking up the pieces of a season that has fallen apart.

Injured or Suspended Players

Real Madrid: Marco Asensio, M. Diaz and Eden Hazard.

Manchester City: Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling.

Pre-Match Odds

Real Madrid: 2.96
Draw: 3.7
Manchester City: 2.41

All odds are with MELbet and are subject to change. Use MAINBONUS promo code for registration with MELbet and get welcome perks.
All odds are for Real Madrid vs Man City Predictions with 1xBet and are subject to change.

Real Madrid vs Man City Predictions

Real Madrid have scored in each of their last 22 home games in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Even when out of form the Spanish giants seem to find a way in Europe, and we expect them to take a slender advantage with them to the Etihad Stadium for the return tie on March 17.