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7 months ago
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Manchester City's quest to pull off an unthinkable second successive Treble faces its biggest challenge yet as Real Madrid attempt to derail Pep Guardiola's lofty ambitions.
Tuesday evening see's City travel to the Santiago Bernabeu for the third consecutive season, with the English visitors drawing their last year on their way to a first Champions League title.
Meanwhile, the competition's record holder will be determined to avenge their previous semi-final defeat and are boosted by the involvement of LaLiga top scorer Jude Bellingham who has starred since moving to the Spanish capital last summer.
City face a defensive crisis with Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake unlikely to be included due to injuries for the daunting trip to Madrid.
Mail Sport's Chris Sutton runs the rule over the three battles that can make or break the tie.
Manchester City's quest to pull off an unthinkable second successive Treble faces its biggest challenge yet
Real Madrid are seeking to avenge their previous semi-final defeat against Man City last season
VINICIUS JUNIOR vs RICO LEWIS
In the absence of the injured Kyle Walker, Lewis faces the toughest test of his career as the replacement right back.
The 19-year-old is cool and composed on the ball, and we may see him take up inverted positions on occasion as per the Pep Guardiola philosophy, but Lewis will be tested to his defensive limit against one of football’s deadliest dribblers.
Rico Lewis faces the toughest test of his career as the replacement right back for Man City
Kyle Walker played out an entertaining battle against Vinicius Jnr in last season's competition
Those one-v-ones will be crucial at the Bernabeu on Tuesday. It was a nice goal that Vinicius scored in Real’s last Champions League game against RB Leipzig, assisted by Jude Bellingham as he dashed inside from the left.
JUDE BELLINGHAM vs RODRI
If Real are to somehow stop City from storming into their fourth consecutive Champions League semi-finals, they will have to end the 65-game unbeaten run of Rodri.
It is no coincidence that in the four matches that City have lost in all competitions this season, he was absent for them all. Rodri can start an attack, but is the best at stopping them and now he will need to tie down the game’s golden boy.
If Real Madrid are to stop City then they will have to end the 65-game unbeaten run of Rodri, while the visitor's must be wary of Jude Bellingham's threat
The mature Bellingham is on 20 goals for this season and I suspect we’ll see a few physical tussles between him and Rodri.
ANTONIO RUDIGER vs ERLING HAALAND
Rudiger loves a physical battle as much as any centre back I’ve ever seen. He will take that as a compliment, I’m sure, because he is one of those rugged defenders who takes great pride in doing the dirty work.
City's superstar striker Erling Haaland should expect a total scrap at the Santiago Bernabeu
The tackles. The blocks. The tussles. Haaland should expect a total scrap from Rudiger and the City striker needs to be up for giving as good as he gets.
It would an ideal time for a big performance from Haaland amid the scrutiny on him since that silent game he suffered against Arsenal.
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