Confirmed Line-Ups: Real Madrid vs Manchester City (UEFA Champions League) | OneFootball

Manchester City face their biggest test of the season as they face off against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League group-stage on Wednesday evening.

The Blues fell to a shock 2-0 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen last time out in Europe but have since turned a a corner with a trio of Premier League victories against Leeds United, Fulham and Sunderland to close the gap to league leaders Arsenal to just two points.

City sit in ninth place in the UEFA Champions League table ahead of a visit to fifth-placed Real Madrid, who are set to welcome Pep Guardiola’s men off the back of a disappointing 2-0 La Liga defeat against Celta Vigo at the weekend.

Xabi Alonso is dealing with a long list of injury concerns ahead of the clash, with Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ferland Mendy ruled out. Dean Huijsen and David Alaba have been dealing with muscle injuries in the buildup to the clash of the titans.

Kylian Mbappe and Eduardo Camavinga were absent from Real Madrid’s open training session on Tuesday, with the former classed as doubtful to feature against Manchester City and the latter ruled out with an ankle injury.

Manchester City have regularly come up against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League since 2020, facing mixed fortunes against the most successful side in the history of the competition over the course of Pep Guardiola’s managerial tenure at the Etihad Stadium.

The Blues put Madrid to the sword in the semi-final en route to their first UEFA Champions League title in 2023, though the Spanish giants have since eliminated Manchester City at the quarter-final and Round of 16 stages of the competition in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns respectively.

Having slipped up against Leverkusen in Manchester, City cannot afford to be beaten at the Santiago Bernabeu if they want to ensure a smooth qualification to the Round of 16 and avoid the play-offs, though a draw is never a bad result in the Spanish capital – albeit against a Madrid side in transition under a new manager.

Ahead of the 20:00 UK kick-off between Real Madrid and Manchester City on Wednesday, here are the confirmed line-ups from the Santiago Bernabeu!

Real Madrid

Starting XI: Courtois; Valverde (C), Asencio, Rudiger, A. Carreras; Tchouameni, D. Ceballos, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Gonzalo, Vini Jr.

Substitutes: Lunin, Fran Gonzalez, Endrick, Mbappe, Arda Guler, Fran Garcia, Brahim, Cestero, Mastantuono, Joan Martinez, Valdepenas.

Manchester City

Starting XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Nico, Bernardo (C), Foden; Cherki, Haaland, Doku.

Substitutes: Trafford, Bettinelli, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, Ait-Nouri, Reijnders, Bobb, Savinho, Marmoush.