Two games, two victories: Real Madrid go into the first knockout round of the Champions League on Wednesday with a flawless home record (9pm in the LIVE ticker and at Sky Sport Austria 1 HD) against Manchester City.
In 2012, they won 3-2 at the Estadio Bernabeu in the group stage, followed by 1-0 in the semifinals in 2016. The duel of the two great powers from Spain and England is the hit in the round of 16.
The “Citizens” are fighting for their first success against the “Royal”, in England there have been two draws (1-1 and 0-0) in the past. Ending this victorious streak would be half the battle for England’s champions in the fight for promotion. However, that would only be an intermediate goal.
“If you want to win the title, you have to defeat such teams, sooner or later. You have to win against the big ones,” said city coach Josep Guardiola.
Guardiola: “The kings of this competition”
So far, however, his team has rarely succeeded. The semifinals in 2016 were the greatest of emotions so far, afterwards they ended early in the round of 16 (Monaco) and twice in the quarter-finals (Liverpool or recently Tottenham). This season may be the last chance to cause a sensation for a long time, as the club was excluded from UEFA for two seasons from 2020/21 for violating financial fair play from the European Cup.
“It is a real test. The kings of this competition against a team that is not used to playing such games often,” Guardiola saw his team as an outsider.
This is also clear when you look at the success chart: Real is a 13-time champion, including the championship cup, and thus a record winner. “At Real Madrid, you actually have to win everything and we want to achieve something big this year – both in the league and in the Champions League,” said real striker Karim Benzema.
The Frenchman met four times in the “premier class” like the Brazilian Rodrygo this season, most often in the club. The 32-year-old striker wants to make the difference with more goals on Wednesday. “City has a great team and an excellent coach. It will be a balanced, competitive match that we want to win,” said Benzema.
The Spanish record champions don’t want to deal too much with the opponent. “We mainly focus on ourselves,” said the 18-time competitive goal scorer.
The self-confidence of the Madrilenians could be broken, however, because on Sunday at the dress rehearsal with 0: 1 at Levante, the first La Liga defeat since September 2019, including loss of the championship lead to FC Barcelona. ManCity, on the other hand, had a 1-0 win at Leicester City, making a big step towards being runner-up in the Premier League.
Juve clear favorite against Lyon
In the second Wednesday duel, the roles are more clearly distributed. Juventus Turin will be the first favorite away at Olympique Lyon (9 p.m. in the LIVE ticker and at DAZN).
The eyes are mainly on Cristiano Ronaldo, who has always scored in Serie A in his most recent eleven games and holds on 25 goals after 30 competitive appearances.
Italy’s series champion has played twice in Lyon so far, winning 1-0 (Europa League quarter-finals 2014 and Champions League group 2016). “All matches in the Champions League are difficult,” said Juve coach Maurizio Sarri.
His players also saw it that way. “There are no easy games in the Champions League, but we’re confident and ready to show our best side,” midfielder Aaron Ramsey looked optimistically.
The “Old Lady” is undefeated against the French and has won three out of four games. The two second legs are scheduled for March 17.
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