The serial of these times in the continues. There is no truce, another Manchester City-Real Madrid in the European Cup qualifiers phase. For the fifth time in the last six seasons, the white team and the citizen They will face double game, this time in the new round of the sixteenth. The first leg will be played in England on February 11 or 12 and the return, at Bernabéu on 18 or 19 of the same month (the exact days will be known this Friday night). The winner will see them in the eighths against the or Leverkusen (the first leg, March 4 or 5, and the return, on 11 or 12 of the same month), and the second game will have it at home.
The rest of the qualifiers are: Bruges-Atalanta, Sporting of Portugal-Borussia Dortmund, Celtic de Glasgow-Bayern, Juventus-PSV, Feyenoord-Milan, Brest-PSG and Monaco-Benfic. The rival of Barcelona in the next phase will be the winner of the Brest-PSG or Monaco-Benfic. This will not be known until the February 21 draw.
There was almost no middle ground for Madrid: the friendly and enthusiastic Celtic, or the great threat of the City, no matter how its season it has been crooked. Both sets left the most stimulating crossing of the sixteen. Those of Pep Guardiola did not secure the pass until the second part of the last clash of the league against why they were only able to win three meetings: to Slovan de Bratislava (0-4), Sparta de Prague (5-0) and this. The citizena clock so far in these initial phases, ended 22º. They tied with Inter (0-0) and Feyenoord (3-3), and lost against Sporting de Portugal (4-1), Juventus (2-0) and. Another notch of a complicated course north of England for Pep Guardiola, which lost Rodri in autumn due to a crusade break and in the final stretch of 2024 only added five points of 27 in the Premier. Now it is fourth, 12 points from Liverpool after straightening in recent weeks. This winter have signed the striker Omar Marmous (75 million), and the abdukodir Khusanov (40), Vitor Reis (37) and Juma Bah (6). Meanwhile, Kyle Walker was given to Milan.
However, and despite so misfortune of the City in the first part of the course, Ancelotti did not strive to hide that he did not want to know anything about them. When the penultimate day ended and before the stage that the English ended up eliminated in the league, he wanted it to be. And last Wednesday, when it was confirmed that Guardiola’s were one of their two possible rivals, Celtic was asked. But no, the ball wanted another episode of the new European classic.
Madrid and City had not seen face to face until 2012, a logical consequence of the old reality of the citizena club of the second English step until it began to receive the millions of Arab Emirates. His first confrontation was in the Liguilla of 2012-13 (3-2 for Madrid and 1-1), they crossed in the 2015-16 semifinals (Madrid passed after 0-0 outside and 1-0 at home) and, from there, the big waterfall. Almost every year, one and always in qualifiers.
In eighths of the 2019-20 season, in Chamartín in February and repeat in August (2-1) in an empty etihad and in full pandemic. It was the night of a very unfortunate wrane that ruined any voltage option of the whites. In the semifinals of the 2021-22, a double of Rodrygo from the 90th minute lighting the great comeback of all that Bernabéu has lived in recent years. After 4-3 of the first leg, their two goals forced the extension and a penalty converted by Benzema led the whites to the final of Paris (3-1). A trauma for the Pep Guardiola set that was charged with interest the following year, in other semifinals, by endorsing a 4-0 without contemplations (in the first leg, 1-1). And the last edition occurred in the rooms of the last campaign, with Madrid in its area during almost the entire clash as it is almost not remembered to scratch a penalty, where Lunin stopped two and Rüdiger sentenced (3-3 in the Castilian and 1-1 in England).
The winners of the last three Champions (Madrid in 2022 and 24, and the City in 2023) prepare for another installment within 10 days of the favorite series of the last five years in the Champions League.
