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Real Madridvs.Man City

sportsmole.co.uk, 8 April 2024, 21:22
Real Madrid will be without the services of Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Manchester City, but the Spanish giants have no fresh injury worries.

Courtois had been in line to return from an ACL injury against Athletic Bilbao after the March international break, but he suffered another knee injury during a training session towards the end of last month, which required further surgery, and he will be out until next season.

Alaba will also not be seen in a Real Madrid shirt until the 2024-25 campaign, with the Austria international suffering an ACL injury of his own towards the end of last year.

Los Blancos otherwise have a full squad, as there are no suspensions, but Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni are a yellow card away from missing the second leg.

Ancelotti expecting a "technical match" against Man City

"Four players risk suspension? We are not worried at all. If they get a yellow card someone else will play the second leg. Zero worries," Los Blancos head coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters during his pre-match press conference.

"The possible suspensions don't affect the XI. The important game is tomorrow.

"It will be an attractive match in terms of football, each team has its own characteristics, with a lot of quality in both. This quality will make for a very nice technical match.

"We think we are superior in some aspects, they are superior in others. The superiority will be seen at the end of the 180 minutes, to see who wins the tie.

"We have different characteristics with the ball, we had [Karim] Benzema last season, he was a reference point, and now we don't have him. We have managed this absence with more mobility in front of the attack. And that will be important, not to fix the positions up front."

Militao unlikely to start on Tuesday night

Eder Militao made his comeback from an ACL injury as a late substitute against Athletic last time out, and there have been suggestions that the Brazilian could feature from the first whistle against Man City.

However, it seems likely that he will be on the bench, with either Nacho or Tchouameni featuring alongside certain starter Antonio Rudiger in the middle of the defence.

"I haven't said anything to the players, I'll tell them tomorrow," Ancelotti said when questioned on his lineup for the first leg of the last-eight contest with the reigning European champions.

Real Madrid secured their spot in the quarter-finals of this season's competition courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate success over RB Leipzig, but they were held to a 1-1 draw in the second leg of the last-16 contest at Bernabeu.

Real Madrid squad vs. Man City:

Lunin, Kepa, Fran; Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Vazquez, F Garcia, Rugier, Mendy; Bellingham, Kroos, Modric, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Guler; Vinicius, Rodrygo, Joselu, Brahim

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