By Felix Durumbah with other reports
Fans of English Premier League (EPL) champions Manchester City and defending Champions League kings, Real Madrid, across the world wait with bated breath as both giants clash today in the first leg of the first-ever knockout play-offs of the reformatted UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Both teams found themselves in this ‘strange’ situation following their failure to make it straight to the Round of 16 knockout stage,after indifferent performances in the extended league stage which featured 36 teams.
Under the new guidelines, only the first eight qualify directly for the Round of 16 while the remaining 16 go for play-offs.
Play-offs winners over two legs then qualify for the Round of 16.
The atmosphere at the Etihad is rocking as City welcome Real Madrid in what promises to be a cracker.
The first leg fixtures are for today, Tuesday, February 11, and tomorrow, Wednesday, February 12, with the second leg fixtures for Tuesday and Wednesday, February 18 and 19, 2025 respectively.
Aside City and Madrid , 14 other teams are in the fray.
They are Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain;
*Juventus, PSV Eindhoven
*Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund
*Club Brugge vs Atalanta
*Monaco vs Benfica
*Celtic vs Bayern Munich
*Feyenoord vs AC Milan.
The eight teams that did their jobs,saved themselves the stress of play-offs and qualified straight for the Round of 16 include Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid, Inter, Leverkusen, and Lille.
With City vs Madrid being the top draw among today’s match-ups, both sides have been talking up their chances.
Former Manchester City winger and club legend Shaun Wright-Phillips said Pep Guardiola’s side “can win” against Real Madrid so long as they “cut the mistakes out”.
The Citizens have committed eight errors leading to goals in the Premier League this term, their most in a season under Guardiola, while they also made six errors leading to shots on goal during an underwhelming campaign in the league phase of the Champions League.
Man City came from behind to beat Club Brugge 3-1 in their final league phase fixture to avoid a shock elimination and scrape through to the playoff round, despite accumulating only 11 points across their eight matches.
To reach the last 16, Guardiola’s side must prevail over two legs against Real Madrid, who they will lock horns with for the fourth successive season.
While Man City have had their fair share of struggles this season, Real Madrid have also been far from their best at times, finishing 11th in the 36-team table, and they will travel to the Etihad Stadium without five injured defenders.
As well as Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao nursing long-term anterior cruciate ligament (ACL( injuries, David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and Lucas Vazquez are also in the treatment room, the latter of whom picked up a muscle problem in Real’s 1-1 draw with rivals Atletico Madrid last weekend.
Wright-Philips told Sports Mole: “I still think it’ll be a big game. I still think it’ll be just as exciting.
“It’s going to be different because Vinicius Junior is not going to be scared of Kyle Walker in many ways. And then on the Real Madrid side, you’ve got [the likes of] Carvajal and Rudiger that are injured for that game.
“So I see it being a game of goals, to be honest with you, and if City cut the mistakes out, I possibly think they can win it. I reckon they can win that tie, to be honest with you.”
Man City, who beat Leyton Orient 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round last weekend, have been eliminated by Real Madrid on three occasions in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, more than they have against any other team in the competition despite only losing three of their 12 encounters with Los Blancos (W4 D5).
Real Madrid gaffer Carlo Ancelloti,on his part, was cautious, when asked at the pre-match presser on Monday, February 10, about his team’s chances of victory.
He said: “It is always a headache to face Man City. It will be a difficult game, hard to predict. It will depend a lot on the attitude and confidence of the teams. It’s such a high-level game you have to be at your best in every aspect.
“It seems like it’s a Clasico because we have played each other a lot of times in this competition. It’s the most difficult game we can face, regardless of form.
“They are one of the best teams in Europe and they have the best manager out there. It’s a nightmare preparing for games against him because he always has ideas that make you think.”
To him, however, whichever team that emerges with victory garlands from the tie, will win this year’s Champions League.
“I am convinced the team that goes through from this tie will go on to win the competition,” Ancelloti stated.
