After the first leg lived up to the hype and then some, Manchester City and Real Madrid meet again for the return fixture in their Champions League quarter-final tie at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.

A night of spectacular strikes at the Bernabeu saw the two European titans share the spoils in a 3-3 thriller last week, and the reward for Wednesday’s victor will be a semi-final tie against either Arsenal or Bayern Munich.

Encounters between Man City and Real Madrid in the Spanish capital rarely fail to live up to the pre-game billing, and last week’s first leg was no different, as Rodrigo’s trickling effort and a Ruben Dias own goal cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s free kick during a frenetic opening 15 minutes.

Another pair of world-class strikes from Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol saw the tide turn yet again, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side had one last trick up their sleeve – potentially the most astonishing of the night – as Federico Valverde’s exquisite volley capped off a six-goal thriller.

Coincidentally, six goals have also been registered in each of Man City’s last two Premier League matches, but Pep Guardiola’s side have come out on the correct end of the scoreline each time, coming from behind to overcome Crystal Palace before the weekend’s 5-1 thrashing of relegation-threatened Luton Town.

Arsenal and Liverpool’s humbling home defeats means that the treble winners boast a two-point advantage at the top of the Premier League standings, but far from insurmountable despite the affirmations of some pessimistic Gooners and Reds.

Now unbeaten in 27 matches across all competitions since December’s lowly defeat to Aston Villa, Man City have more than just a semi-final spot on offer this week, as progression would also see the Citizens equal a club-record 42-game unbeaten run on home turf, a feat set all the way back in 1921.

Not since November 2022 – before the Qatar World Cup – have Man City emerged from an Etihad encounter on the wrong end of the scoreline, but Real Madrid are no strangers to extraordinary Champions League comebacks against their counterparts in sky blue.

Following Valverde’s vicious volley with 11 minutes of normal time remaining last week, Real are yet to taste defeat in the 2023-24 Champions League and head to Manchester with a 100% record from their four away matches in the current edition, although winning all of those matches by just the one goal.

However, a single striker from Aurelien Tchouameni – suspended for Wednesday’s contest – was coincidentally enough to propel Real to a 1-0 beating of Mallorca in the weekend’s La Liga battle, keeping Ancelotti’s champions-elect eight points clear of Barcelona at the top of the table with seven matches left to play.

Real Madrid’s unbeaten run may not be as noteworthy as their hosts’, but a 15-game streak without being bested is still nothing to be scoffed at, and the 14-time Champions League winners have some Mancunian history on their side ahead of Wednesday’s midweek trip to the north of England.

Real have only managed to progress from two of their last 10 Champions League ties when failing to win in the opening leg, but both were against Manchester United in 1999-00 and 2012-13. However, against the Red Devils’ noisy neighbours at a ground where they were beaten 4-0 last year, that may not bear much significance.

Man City vs. Real Madrid Head to head

In the 13 previous meetings between these two teams, Man City have claimed five victories while Real have won four, and they have drawn in four. Real have scored 22 goals and conceded 25 in the process.

• 26/04/2022
  Manchester City

  4

  Real Madrid

  3
  Champions League
• 04/05/2022
  Real Madrid

  E 3

  Manchester City

  1
  Champions League
• 09/05/2023
  Real Madrid

  1

  Manchester City

  1
  Champions League
• 17/05/2023
  Manchester City

  4

  Real Madrid

  0
  Champions League
• 09/04/2024
  Real Madrid

  3

  Manchester City

  3
  Champions League