Confirmed Line-Ups: Real Madrid vs Manchester City (UEFA Champions League Last-16 Play-Off Second-Leg)

Manchester City visit the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night as they take on Real Madrid in a second-leg meeting for a place in the UEFA Champions League last-16.

Having succumbed to a disappointing late defeat in the first-leg last Tuesday night, Manchester City bounced back at the weekend to bring some much-needed confidence back into the camp as they dismissed of Newcastle via a 4-0 scoreline at the Etihad Stadium.

It was a game that saw its headlines dominated by Omar Marmoush, who not only scored his first goal for the club but made it a 14-minute hat-trick in the first-half to end the game as a contest by the half-time interval.

James McAtee would round off the scoring late on in the contest to put the icing on a showing that also boasted fine individual performances from the likes of Abdukodir Khusanov in defence and Nico Gonzalez at the heart of midfield.

While Wednesday evening’s clash at the Bernabeu holds huge significance in the context of both teams’ seasons, City’s schedule does not get any easier as they take on Liverpool at the weekend in the Premier League.

Real Madrid come into this week’s clash marred by match refereeing controversy as their 1-1 draw away to Osasuna was dominated by talk around Jude Bellingham’s dismissal and his choice of words towards the referee on the evening.

City travelled to Madrid with a 22-man squad confirmed by the club but without Manuel Akanji, Rodri, and Oscar Bobb – all of whom are sidelined with their respective long-term issues.

Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, and Jack Grealish all return to the fray while Erling Haaland avoided any serious issues during the closing exchanges of the win over Newcastle as he limped off the field with an apparent knee issue that has since cleared.

Ahead of kick-off at the Santiago Bernabeu, here is how both Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola have lined up their respective Real Madrid and Manchester City sides in UEFA Champions League action!

Real Madrid

Starting XI: Courtois; Valverde (C), Rudiger, R. Asencio, F. Mendy; Tchouameni, D. Ceballos, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.

Substitutes: Lunin, Sergio Mestre, Alaba, Camavinga, Modric, Arda Guler, Endrick, Lucas V., Vallejo, Fran Garcia, Brahim.

Manchester City

Starting XI: Ederson; Khusanov, Stones, Dias (C), Gvardiol; Nico, Gundogan, Bernardo; Savinho, Marmoush, Foden.

Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Lewis, Nunes, Ake, Kovacic, De Bruyne, McAtee, Grealish, Doku, Haaland.