REAL WILL BE OUT FOR REVENGE
Manchester City is still in contention for back-to-back trebles
15 Champions League title Real Madrid is aiming for
The all-time kings of Europe take on the current holders in the standout tie of the Champions League quarterfinals.
For the third year running Madrid and City meet in a match-up in which the winner has gone on to lift the trophy in the past two seasons. And it would be difficult to look beyond either team going on to continue that streak this time around.
City is still in contention for back-to-back trebles after winning the Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup last year.
Madrid, reinvigorated by the signing of Jude Bellingham last summer, is eight points clear at the top of the Spanish league and aiming for a record-extending 15th European Cup title.
The Spanish giant also has a point to prove after being routed 4-0 by City in the second leg of last year's semifinals. Then it was City who had a score to settle, having suffered a late collapse at the Bernabeu to crash out in the semifinals in 2022. Manager Pep Guardiola will likely know how motivated Madrid will be to exact revenge - just as his players were last year - and that adds a subplot to a tie that is already heavy on intrigue. Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain versus Barcelona is another clash of heavyweights, with Kylian Mbappe aiming to finally lead the French champions to European club soccer's elite trophy before walking away at the end of the season. Premier League title-chasing Arsenal takes on a Bayern Munich team that is limping towards the end of a miserable campaign in the German league, while Atletico Madrid faces Borussia Dortmund. REAL DEAL? Madrid has all its attacking players clicking.
Bellingham has struck 20 goals in 32 games this season, including four in the Champions League. Vinícius Júnior is peaking just in time to face City with five goals in his last three appearances. Brahim
Díaz provides a spark off the bench. And Rodyrgo ended a six-week scoring drought in Madrid's last game, a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, to keep it on course for winning the domestic league title.
Madrid is on a 27-game unbeaten run at its Santiago Bernabeu Stadium across all competitions dating back to last April. City has found its scoring form over the past week after hitting four goals in each of its games.