This will be the seventh meeting between Manchester City and Real Madrid in European competition, with each of the previous six coming in the Uefa Champions League since 2012-13.
After failing to win the first four (D2 L2), the Citizens won both legs in the Round of 16 against them in this competition in 2019-20.
Real Madrid haven’t won any of their previous three trips to face Manchester City in European competition (D2 L1), with the most recent two also coming in the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League – 0-0 in the 2015-16 semifinal first leg and 1-2 in the 2019-20 Round of 16 second leg.
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has eliminated Real Madrid from the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League on two previous occasions, beating them 3-1 on aggregate in the 2010-11 semifinals with Barcelona and 4-2 on aggregate in the 2019-20 Round of 16 with Manchester City. Guardiola is looking to become the first manager to eliminate Real Madrid from the Uefa Champions League on three occasions
Real Madrid have only won one of their last six away games against English teams in the Uefa Champions League (D2 L3), although that victory did come against Chelsea earlier this month. No team has ever beaten two different English sides away from home in the knockout stages in a single Uefa Champions League campaign.
Pep Guardiola (four wins) and Carlo Ancelotti (two wins) have faced each other on six previous occasions as opposing managers – all four of Guardiola’s wins came against Ancelotti’s Everton (three in the Premier League, one in the FA Cup), while the Italian’s two victories came in the Uefa Champions League semifinals in 2013-14, with his Real Madrid side beating Bayern Munich 5-0 on aggregate.
Carlo Ancelotti has won 74 per cent of his games in charge of Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League (26/35), the best win per centage for any manager with at least 20 games for a single club in the competition.
Raheem Sterling has netted 24 goals for Manchester City in the Uefa Champions League. If he scores in this game, he would overtake Paul Scholes (24) and trail only Wayne Rooney (30) for the most goals scored by an English player for an English team in the competition’s history.
Karim Benzema has scored 12 goals in nine appearances for Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League this season, including a hat-trick in his previous trip to England earlier in the month (v Chelsea at Stamford Bridge). Only one player has netted more away goals against English sides in a single Uefa Champions League campaign, with Serge Gnabry netting six for Bayern Munich in 2019-20 (four v Spurs, two v Chelsea).
Only Kingsley Coman (4.1) has a higher expected assists (xA) total than Manchester City’s João Cancelo (3.6 xA) in the Uefa Champions League in 2021-22, indicating the quality of chances created by the Portuguese this season. The third-ranked player for expected assists this season, meanwhile, is Real Madrid’s VinÃcius Júnior (3.4 xA).
Real Madrid winger VinÃcius Júnior has made more progressive carries of 10+ metres than any other player in the Uefa Champions League this season (62), while no player has generated more shots following a carry (moving 5+ metres with the ball) than the Brazilian in this season’s competition (21 – 10 shots, 11 chances created). (Supersports)
