Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Manchester City | Champions League Round of 16 | OneFootball

Real Madrid take on a high-flying Manchester City in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie tomorrow night at the Santiago Bernabeu, and the forms of the two teams could not be further apart.

The visitors are unbeaten in their last eleven games across all competitions and last lost a match only back in January in the UEFA Champions League.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, have lost two of their last four games and were seconds away from a draw against Celta Vigo at the weekend.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City has become an annual event at this point in time in the Champions League. In fact, the two teams already faced off in the league phase earlier this season, with the Cityzens emerging 2-1 victors.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Manchester City.

A massive home leg

The final match day of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League took a toll on Real Madrid’s campaign in the competition, handing them several setbacks along the way.

For starters, Los Blancos were forced to play the additional playoff round against Benfica in the competition over two legs – adding two games to their already hectic schedule.

Concurrently, however, Real Madrid now have the disadvantage of playing the second leg of the Round of 16 clash against Manchester City away from home.

Tomorrow’s first leg will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Pep Guardiola’s side will have the home advantage for the all-important second leg. Needless to say, that massive changes the mindset with which Real Madrid enter Wednesday’s game.

The goal tomorrow night will thus be not just to win but to seal a lead strong enough to confidently take to the opposition’s home venue later in the month.

For all the setbacks that they enter the game with, that objective clarity of approach is a must, and it has to reflect in the team’s attitude, energy, and effectiveness tomorrow night.

One man attack?

All eyes on Vinicius. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

For a game of such importance, Real Madrid are seriously understaffed in attack – the department that will matter the most to take a solid lead.

Kylian Mbappe has still not recovered from his knee injury and is definitely ruled out of tomorrow’s game. Not having the Frenchman comes as a huge blow to Alvaro Arbeloa’s plans.

Rodrygo Goes is another player who will be unavailable on the night, although his injury is a far longer-term setback after he underwent surgery for a cruciate ligament rupture.

The two absences, needless to say, serve as major blows for Real Madrid’s attacking department and it is only compounded by the fact that the likes of Brahim Diaz and Gonzalo Garcia have not looked convincing in recent times.

All eyes, thus, will be on Vinicius Jr. tomorrow night as the Brazilian finds himself in a situation where he may well be the team’s one-man army in attack.

Vinicius has been in good form in recent weeks and there is no reason to believe that he cannot pull off what is expected of him. The fact that he will not have much support, however, does not help.

Massive defensive test

While most of Real Madrid’s focus and attention will be towards scoring goals and securing a lead of tangible magnitude on Wednesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu, an equal amount of pressure will lie on the defence.

After all, even the back-line is suffering from key absentees ahead of the game and will not be at full-strength.

Eder Militao and David Alaba will continue to be absent in central defence for Real Madrid, and all signs point to Antonio Rudiger starting alongside Raul Asencio once more.

Further, Alvaro Carreras misses the game through injury as well, forcing the coach to select one of Ferland Mendy or Fran Garcia as the starting left-back on the night.

Los Blancos’ defensive line has not looked consistently solid for a while. That, coupled with Carreras’ absence, leaves the department in a questionable situation ahead of such a massive clash.

Manchester City enter the game with some of the best in the business fit and raring to go. Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Bernardo Silva, and possibly Phil Foden are expected to feature on the night.

For a defence that recently struggled to hold up against Getafe and Celta Vigo, stepping up and facing the elite forwards of Manchester City’s calibre will not be easy. Yet, it will be as vital as the attacking department’s contributions will prove to be.