It’s a mouth-watering clash of European footballing titans as Real Madrid would play host to Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In a repeat of last year’s semi-final clash at the same stage of the competition, Real Madrid would be hoping for an outcome similar to last year which saw them progress to the final. Not only is this a repeat fixture for the defending champions but also a similar run-up to the competition’s final as last year, as Real Madrid would be hoping to complete a treble of victories against English oppositionsfor the second consecutive year after knocking out Chelsea and Manchester City in last year’s edition before defeating Liverpool in the final to win the trophy, they have already knocked out Liverpool and Chelsea in this year’s edition of the competition and now hope to book place in the final by defeating yet another English side.
Carlo Ancelotti (9) and Pep Guardiola (10) are the coaches with the most UCL semi-final appearances in the tournaments history but only one of them would be making an appearance in the final this year with Ancelotti looking to defend the trophy for his Madrid side while Pep looks to win his third UCL trophy as a manager and first for Manchester City.
The tie would certainly not be decided after the full-time whistle is blown at the Santiago Bernabeu as they’ll be all to play for at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester when the two sides meet again for the second leg of the tie on the 17th of May.