Jack Grealish, John Stones, Rodrigo, Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva all start in place of Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez.
The sextet all started on the bench for the 2-1 win against Leeds at the Etihad as Guardiola spoke of rest for the match with Sam Allardyce’s men rather than rotation.
The boss has now brought them back in for the exciting clash at the Bernabeu as City aim for a strong start in this opening last four game with the current champions.
The game with Carlo Ancelotti’s team kicks off at 20:00 (UK time).
Following this evening’s encounter, we are back at the Etihad next Wednesday for the deciding match.
This is our third Champions League semi-final in a row.
TEAMS
MADRID XI: Courtois, Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga, Valverde, Kroos, Modric, Rodrygo, Vini Jr, Benzema (C)
Subs: Lunin, Luis Lopez, Vallego, Nacho, Hazard, Asensio, Odriozola, Lucas, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Mariano
CITY: 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
TACTICS
Pep Guardiola could adopt a 4-3-3 for the trip to Real Madrid.
Ederson is between the sticks and protected by a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.
Rodrigo is the anchor man in the midfield, with Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne getting forward on either side of him.
Jack Grealish will look to do damage on the left wing and Bernardo Silva attacking on the right in support of central forward Erling Haaland.
BOSSING IT
If Pep Guardiola can get the better of Carlo Ancelotti this evening, he will join the Real Madrid boss in an exclusive club.
Victory in the Bernabeu would see Guardiola reach 100 Champions League wins.
And, also, it would see him become the quickest manager to that impressive milestone.
MATCH PREVIEW | REAL MADRID V CITY
It would mean he had taken just 159 matches as a boss in the competition to reach the total, faster than previous record holder Ancelotti, who took 180 games to reach three figures.
In fact, Guardiola would become only the third manager to reach the landmark with Sir Alex Ferguson the first to do it after 184 fixtures.
HAALAND CHASING MORE RECORDS
If Erling Haaland scores tonight, he will have broken yet another record.
The goal would put him on 13 and mean he’s scored the most goals by a Premier League player in a single Champions League campaign across group and knockout stages.
It would be one ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy who hit 12 in 2002/03.
Obviously, Haaland is also on course for most Champions League goals in the 2022/23 season – his 12 so far is four ahead of Mo Salah in second and five ahead of Kylian Mbappe in third. The nearest ‘live’ player still in the competition is one of tonight’s opponents - Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, who is on 6.
FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION | REAL MADRID V CITY
Haaland is also top of most Champions League assists and goals combined in the 2022/23 season with 13, one ahead of Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and three ahead of PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Liverpool’s Mo Salah.
Despite the glut of landmarks achieved by the popular striker this term already – with the prospect of more to come, hopefully with another tonight – he remains fully focused on the progress of the team, not the milestones of the individual.
ASSIST KING
Kevin De Bruyne is a wonderful player to play alongside if you’re a striker – just check the stats!
Simply put, De Bruyne makes things happen and the opposition must always keep an eye on him whenever he’s involved.
He is currently second for most Champions League assists in the 2022/23 season – and will hope to work his magic this evening to create even more chances for the likes of Erling Haaland.
He has five assists - one behind Madrid’s Vinicius Junior who is top with six.
Let’s hope the City star moves into top spot tonight!
CONFIDENT...BUT COURTEOUS!
Rodrigo hit the right notes in his pre-match press conference as he looked ahead to tonight’s clash in the Bernabeu.
The anchor man midfielder spoke of his admiration for this evening’s opponents – the 14-time UCL winners, who have lifted the famous trophy more than any other club.
But he also showed a quiet authority in his own club’s ability to see off Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
He said: “We respect a lot, Real Madrid.
“They are the king of the competition - but we have weapons, and they know that.
“We are in a good moment.
“We respect them - and nothing will be decided tomorrow.
“We trust 100% we are able to qualify.”
Let’s hope we can use our weapons to good effect tonight.
MATCH STATS
- Real Madrid and Manchester City will meet for the ninth time in European competition in this match, with both sides winning three of the previous eight games (D2). City have won three of the most recent four meetings between the sides (L1), but we did lose the most recent one – 3-1 at the Bernabeu in last season’s semi-final second leg.
- City could become the first English side to beat Real Madrid away from home in the UEFA Champions League on multiple occasions, having previously won 2-1 there in February 2020. Indeed, English sides have only won four of their 18 combined away games at Real Madrid to date in the competition (D4 L10), with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and City all winning once each.
- The last four UEFA Champions League games between Real Madrid (8) and Manchester City (9) have seen 17 goals scored, at an average of 4.3 per match. While City had 31 shots on target compared to Real Madrid’s 17, the Spanish side netted with 47% of their attempts on target, compared to 29% for City.
- City manager Pep Guardiola has only lost five of his 21 matches against Real Madrid across all competitions (W12 D4).
- Real Madrid are on a run of three consecutive clean sheets in the UEFA Champions League, while they’ve gone 346 minutes without conceding since Mohamed Salah’s goal in the round of 16 first leg at Anfield.
- City striker Erling Haaland has scored 35 goals in 27 appearances in the UEFA Champions League, with his minutes per goal ratio (58) the best of any player in the competition’s history (minimum five goals scored).
CARLO ANCELOTTI PREVIEW | REAL MADRID V CITY
- City have lost just one of our last 16 UEFA Champions League games (W9 D6) and remain unbeaten in 10 since losing 3-1 to Real Madrid at this stage last season.
- City have conceded the fewest goals (4) of any side in the Champions League this season, while their opponents’ average expected goals tally per game is 0.78, also the lowest of any side. Only Bayern Munich (7) have kept more clean sheets than City (6) in the competition this term.
