PREVIEW: Man City visit the Bernabéu as Real Madrid battle poor form | OneFootball

The European giants meet once again in the Champions League group stage, with both sides keeping a keen eye on their domestic leagues – though for very different reasons.

Real Madrid enter this clash reeling from a chaotic home defeat to Celta Vigo in which almost everything went wrong. Los Blancos now sit four points behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race and have managed just two wins from their last seven matches in all competitions.

For a club of Madrid’s stature, two wins in four would raise alarm bells – two wins in seven have placed significant pressure on Xabi Alonso, who was appointed only in the summer to succeed Carlo Ancelotti.

The Spaniard remains in charge for the visit of Manchester City as Madrid continue their pursuit of a 16th Champions League crown.

Manchester City, meanwhile, arrive at the Bernabéu in resurgent form. Pep Guardiola’s side have surged back into contention domestically, now sitting just behind league leaders Arsenal and firmly involved in the title race.

City’s last Champions League outing – a heavily rotated 2–0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen – proved costly, with Guardiola later admitting he may have made too many changes as his team slipped out of the automatic last-16 places.

City responded emphatically, winning their next three matches to regain momentum heading into this heavyweight showdown.

Real Madrid’s defensive crisis deepened at the weekend after Éder Militão suffered a hamstring injury in the first half against Celta Vigo, ruling him out of Wednesday’s fixture. Militão joins Dani Carvajal (knee), Trent Alexander-Arnold (thigh), Ferland Mendy (hamstring), Dean Huijsen and David Alaba on the sidelines.

With numbers dwindling, Alonso is down to the bare bones defensively, though he avoids further disruption in Europe as Fran García and Álvaro Carreras will serve their suspensions in La Liga instead of the Champions League.

Manchester City travel with a largely healthy squad, boasting a fully fit defensive group aside from John Stones, who missed the win over Sunderland with a surprise injury.

The England international joins Mateo Kovačić and Rodri in the treatment room. Further forward, Ryan Cherki impressed against Sunderland and is expected to earn a place in the starting XI for this Champions League clash.

Predited Line-Ups

RMA: Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras; Tchouameni, Camavinga; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr; Mbappe