LIVE Real Madrid – Manchester City » Kylian Mbappe, the great absentee of the evening's most important match in the Champions League

Tonight's hosts have many key absences, with Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham among those set to miss tonight's game.

LIVE » Real Madrid – Manchester City 1-0

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• Television: Prima Sport 1, Digi Sport 1

• In this phase of the competition, matches are played over two legs

• The return is scheduled for March 17, from 22:00, in Manchester

• The winner of this duel will play in the “quarters” with Bayern Munich or Atalanta

• Manchester City qualified directly for the “eighties” after finishing their unique group in 8th place

• Real Madrid advanced to the play-off against Benfica, 3-1 on aggregate

• The two teams also met in the 6th stage of the group, and Manchester City prevailed at the “Bernabeu” with a score of 2-1

Real Madrid – Manchester City, starting teams:

Real madrid: Courtois – Alexander-Arnold, Rudiger, Huijsen, Mendy – Valverde, Tchouameni, Brahim Diaz, Thiago* – Arda Guler, Vinicius
Reserves: Lunin, F. Gonzalez – Carvajal, Camavinga, Gonzalo, Asencio, F. Garcia, Mastantuono, Aguado, Cestero, Manuel Angel, Palacios
Absent: Mbappe, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Militao, Ceballos, Alaba, Carreras
Coach: Alvaro Arbeola

Manchester United: Donnarumma – Khusanov, Dias, Guehi, O'Reilly – Rodri, Bernardo Silva – Savinho, Semenyo, Doku – Haaland
Reserves: Trafford, Bettinelli – Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Cherki, Nico, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Foden, Alleyne
Absent: Guardiol, Kovacic, Lewis, Nypan
Coach: Pep Guardiola

Referee: Maurizio Mariani
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu

The “headliner” of the evening in the Champions League

The duel between Real Madrid and Manchester City is the most important match of the evening in the Champions League. The two teams meet less than 2 months after the last direct match, in the league phase, when the “citizens” won 2-1, even at the “Bernabeu”.

Real Madrid approach the match after a wobbly period. In the last 5 official matches, Arbeloa's students achieved 3 wins and 2 losses, results that ranked the team in 2nd place in La Liga.

On the other hand, the players managed by Pep Guardiola have a streak of 11 matches without failure. The good results are also seen in the domestic championship, where they are in the second position, 7 points behind the leader Arsenal.

It promises to be an extremely interesting duel considering that both teams have won the Champions League trophy in recent years. Real Madrid won the competition in 2024, while Manchester City in 2023.

The two coaches prefaced tonight's duel.

Are we always favourites? We are Real Madrid and we never feel inferior to anyone. Tomorrow we face a strong opponent, whom we know very well and we know how difficult it is to face them. But we will, looking him in the eye.

It will be a difficult but exciting match and highly anticipated by the fans. We will enter the field to win and we will be very motivated. The Champions League is important to all of us. It's motivating to experience a round of 16 in the Champions League, to experience an evening like tomorrow.

It's a special moment. Would a draw be a good result? We enter the field to win. It will be a great experience and I really want to win this match. We have to pay a lot of attention to the opponents. They have many very good players individually, but they also know how to play as a team.

– Alvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid coach

You have to face the match with incredible respect, look into their eyes and say: «This is who we are as a team». You must know who you are. That's the intention on the big stages against the biggest teams, knowing it's 180 minutes and the more you control the good moments, the better it will be.

We play 11 against 11, we want everyone to be fit, we play a lot of games. It's better to rotate, but it's a different tournament, it's the first game and we want to get a good result.

When we play at Anfield, at Old Trafford, at Camp Nou… You have to give everything. They're always trying to distract you, but it's a football game. I'd rather be there than not, of course, because it means we're among Europe's elite. For those of us who play here, it's a learning experience for the future. We will give everything to advance. We want to continue writing our history.

– Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager

The two European giants have faced each other 11 times in the last six years:

Results from recent Champions League matches:

• 2025-26 league phase:

  Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City

• 2024-25 Knockout Stage Playoffs, Real Madrid win 6-3 on aggregate:

  Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City

  Manchester City 2-3 Real Madrid

• Quarter-finals 2023-24 Real Madrid win on penalties:

  Manchester City 1-1 Real Madrid

  Real Madrid 3-3 Manchester City

• 2022-23 semi-finals, Manchester City win 5-1 on aggregate:

  Manchester City 4-0 Real Madrid

  Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester City

• 2021-22 semi-finals, Real Madrid win 6-5 on aggregate:

  Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City

  Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid

• Final favorites 2019-20 Manchester City win 4-2 on aggregate:

  Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid

  Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City