v Real Madrid

Firstly, a quick look back at our last game…

We’d just come off the back of two league wins but a brace of victories which came with slightly less-impressive performances than-that of recent months. How would we fair, then, against a side with a new, recently-installed manager at the helm?

Well, I thought we played really well actually – back was the high-tempo and press and the zippy passing, for the most part, was good / accurate.

However, what a game it was for missed opportunities! 18 shots and only 6 of ‘em on target...and I-personally counted at LEAST 7 missed chances from at least three different players to score “should have been” goals; with credit to their keeper for stopping one of those with his legs.

One of the culprits was Erling Haaland but I’m stopping WELL short of giving our record-breaking striker the score-rating that the Manchester Evening News gave him, which was 4/10. In fact, this is what I posted to show my dismay:

‘…he was guilty of missing multiple chances and the sentimental passing of the ball to Ilkay for the penalty nearly came back to bite us.

But...4?! That sounds like an emotional-frustration rating to me - Erling's work-rate, link-up play and positioning to get INTO those goal-scoring areas was excellent and he even got himself a secondary assist for our second goal. Tut-tut’.

However, less of that misfiring please, City, as we head into our final lap of the season which includes a double-header against Real Madrid; needing a further 9 points from 12 to clinch the league title and finding ourselves in a Manchester v Trafford derby at Wembley in the F.A. Cup Final on 3^rd June.

 

The crucial fixtures are just punishingly relentless!

v Real Madrid

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:

(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 7/11)

A very fluid 3-2-4-1 / 4-1-4-1 / 4-5-1 / 4-3-3:

____________________Haaland____________________

 

 

Grealish___________________________________Silva

 

_________Gundogan___________De Bruyne_________

 

_____________________Rodri_____________________

Walker___________________________________Stones

____________Dias_______________Akanji___________

 

 

____________________Ederson____________________

Subs: Carson, Ortega, Lewis, Gomez, Laporte, Charles, Phillips, Perrone, Foden, Palmer, Mahrez & Alvarez.

Ederson in net.

The defence is a difficult one – there are many different things our manager could do with the back line, not all of them fully ideal I would add, but I’m sticking my neck out by going for the pace of Kyle on the left for a rare change; Stones on the right but occasionally popping into midfield as we’ve seen him do of late but only when it feels right to do so on this occasion and with Ruben & Manuel in the middle. If I’m correct with the defensive personnel, we may well see Kyle on his more-familiar right-hand-side but that would likely mean Manuel shuffling over to the left flank and I, personally, didn’t think he looked too comfortable there against Fulham recently.

Rodders is the deeper of the midfielders while Jack, Ilkay, Kevin & Bernardo are more advanced…although I’d be a little concerned about the legs of both De Bruyne & Gundogan; both having played practically the whole match just 3 days ago and with a combined age of 63. Thankfully, there’s a 5-day gap before our next league outing on Sunday afternoon.

Erling to start ‘up top’ and hoping, no doubt, to shake off some misfiring in his last run-out.

A full-12 bench, for this one, sees two reserve stoppers in the form of Scott & Stefan; Rico, Sergio & Aymeric are just three defenders that we'll see on the side tonight. In contrast, Shea, Kalvin, Maximo, Phil, Cole & Riyad make up the rather large contingent of midfielders / wingers waiting their turn, while Julian is the back-up striker option in ‘the 12’.

Notable absences:

-       Benjamin Mendy – Suspended by the club until further notice.

-       Nathan Ake – Injured / hasn’t travelled with the squad. Without any confirmation, it appears that his recent hamstring niggle came back to bite him last Saturday. It’s a blow for sure and I’m speculating that we won’t see the very-much-in-form Dutch international until after our return leg of this competition. 🙄

Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?

Yep.

Result? I keep hearing from a number of sources – and have been for several weeks now – that our hosts aren’t quite the side they were last season and is why, so I keep hearing also, they intend to spend a lot of dosh refreshing their squad in the summer. A quick look at their domestic league table – a title they won last season by a massive 13 points – would appear to back that up. They currently sit a whopping 14 points off league leaders, Barcelona.

I understand also that they have a couple of injuries in defence and at least one key player out in their midfield. Every little helps!

Of course, it’s going to [still] be a tough game but if we’re not feeling too ‘leggy’ after our last fixture then I honestly think we can come home from Spain with something. I WAS tempted to suggest a creditable draw to bring back to our place but I’m actually going for us to bring back a lead; even if it’s just a very narrow one. It’s a City win for me!

Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:

Prediction: Draw

Result: Lost

(Pre-match blog posting from that game)

Expected weather conditions during the game: Lovely. Even as the game kicks off 9:00pm local time, the sun should still be just about up and the temperature doesn’t drop below 73F all match. There’s a decent northerly breeze of around 10MPH but that’s highly unlikely to be felt much at pitch level in the enclosed, high-sided stadium. Even if the perimeter vents are open; it’s likely to provide nothing more than a little relief for those City fans & players who haven’t been used to that sort of temperature for the last 8 months or so.

Solidarity