All Manchester City can do tomorrow is have a red hot go at Real Madrid and see what happens | OneFootball

Manchester City have it all to do against Real Madrid tomorrow night at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola’s side enter tomorrow night’s second leg against Alvaro Arbeloa’s side trailing 3-0 on aggregate in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie after last week’s dismal result at the Bernabeu. The odds are stacked against City tomorrow night. There is no other way to put it. City need to beat Real Madrid by 3 goals to level the tie or win by four to progress. All Pep Guardiola’s side can do is have a red hot crack at the 15-time Champions League winners tomorrow night. Perhaps that is the ideal circumstance for this City side to show something tomorrow night.

Manchester City and Pep Guardiola have no choice but to take the game to Real Madrid straight from kickoff at the Etihad.

What happened last week at the Bernabeu is done. Manchester City now have to come from 3-0 down tomorrow night at the Etihad. That in itself against Real Madrid is no easy task. The fact is that this remains a depleted Real Madrid side. Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Alvaro Carreras have been named in the Real Madrid squad for tomorrow night’s match. There is no way that Mbappe and Bellingham will be fully fit to play major roles tomorrow night. So Alvaro Arbeloa’s side remains depleted, and it is up to Manchester City to take the game to Real Madrid from kickoff tomorrow night.

What lineup Pep Guardiola selects will be fascinating. For me, Rayan Cherki has to start. Real Madrid are likely to set up to sit deep and play on the break. Cherki is the ideal player for City to combat that. Jeremy Doku has to start on the left and be tasked with drifting centrally. Doku thrives in this role. He has done all season. I’m backing Erling Haaland to come out with a point to prove tomorrow night. It is time for Haaland to stand up and break out of his funk. City have to play overlapping full-backs in Matheus Nunes at right-back and Rayan Ait-Nouri or Nico O’Reilly at left-back with a strong midfield base. That has to be the plan.

Forget stability, or anything else, City need goals at the Etihad so it’s time for Pep to go back to what worked earlier this season. Tomorrow night is the time to put a lineup on the pitch filled with creativity to go at Real Madrid from the first minute.

The Etihad crowd will respond if City start strongly tomorrow night.

Pep Guardiola knows what advantage the Etihad Stadium crowd can give his team. The Manchester City manager also knows his team has the quality to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Real Madrid. Although it will be no easy task. Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s match, Guardiola said: “The task is massive to score three goals against Madrid isn’t easy and the result in the first leg isn’t a perfect one. But at the same time, we are here and at the Etihad always we can create as much momentum as possible with our people and do a good game for the talented players we have and defend well.”

“It’s about the players being in their perfect positions. We will arrive to try to score and defend the positions better. The perfect game in many senses, for 93 minutes and we will just try and try, don’t give up.”

Manchester City have to attack Real Madrid tomorrow night. The risk is that could play into Alvaro Arbeloa’s side’s hands, no doubt about that. On the flip side of that coin, the situation surrounding tomorrow night’s match may be what this City side needs. They have to go for it, and they will have the Etihad Stadium crowd behind them. It has been a bad week, and a 3-0 deficit to Real Madrid is almost impossible to overcome. The tie isn’t over, so City simply have to come out and attack Real Madrid, and if they can land an early blow, the Etihad crowd will come with them. There is no doubt about that.

Forget the negativity of the past week; it’s time for some excitement to surround this new-look City team. They are free to have a red-hot crack at Real Madrid tomorrow night, and that may well suit them.