Manchester City take on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night. All eyes will be on whether or not Pep Guardiola’s side can pull off a European miracle.
In the first meeting between the two European giants, Real Madrid beat Manchester City 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium, despite City having taken an early lead through Erling Haaland.
It’s set the Cityzens up for a difficult clash away at the Bernabeu and if, somehow, Pep Guardiola’s side can make it into the next round of the Champions League, it’ll surely be deemed something of a miracle.
City go into the game in good stead after their resounding 4-0 win over Newcastle United in the last outing. Newcastle were poor though and Guardiola will know his players have to take their game to the next level to stand a chance against a rampant Madrid side on Wednesday night.
What team Guardiola goes for remains to be seen. Jack Grealish is injured, but Omar Marmoush could be the star of the show after his hat-trick against Newcastle United last time out.
- READ MORE: Arsene Wenger shares what he really likes about Omar Marmoush after watching him for Man City
What Mateo Kovacic was spotted doing in Man City training ahead of Real Madrid
Another player who could be in line for starting spot against Madrid is Mateo Kovacic. The Croatian is often someone who Guardiola calls upon in tricky games like this, with his physicality and battle-readiness a key outlet for City in certain games.
And the idea of Kovacic starting at the Bernabeu may have some legs after journalist Joe Bray revealed that he spotted the 30-year-old having a prolonged chat with one of the City coaching staff, as he and fellow midfielder Nico were the first two out on the training ground on Tuesday.
Bray explained on the Talking City podcast: “I was at training earlier today and he (Nico) was one of the first out and I thought, is that Dias? Is that Stones?
“Only then did I realise that it was him because he’s got that sort of look. But he was one of the first out, but so was Kovacic. And Kovacic was having a long chat with a coach and I was thinking, does that mean anything?
“It could mean anything. It could be nothing. But I don’t know. I wonder if they were both trying to sort of stake a claim and argue the case. I’m not sure you’d play both. If it’s one or the other.”
One Man City man is bound to start in midfield vs Real Madrid
Guardiola still has a plethora of options for the game against Madrid. But one player who may have already written his name on the team sheet for Wednesday is January signing Nico.
Man City fans hailed Nico’s performance against Newcastle last weekend as the Spaniard made his full debut for the club, commanding the game in midfield and boasting definite airs of Rodri about his game.
He could well be joined by Kovacic in the centre of midfield. But Guardiola may be simply thinking how can he build a midfield around Nico for the game against Madrid.
The game kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday night and the game will be shown on TNT Sports.
