CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: The Ultra previews Tuesday’s Champions League first semi-final between REAL MADRID v MANCHESTER CITY with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
REAL MADRID V MANCHESTER CITY
8pm The eyes of the football world will tune in to Madrid on Tuesday night as we kick off the Champions League Semi-Finals on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. Although we have an Milan Derby in the other Semi-Final, Real Madrid v Manchester City is a real glamour tie and why we all love massive Champions League nights so much. Manchester City will be fancied to go through – indeed they are actually odds on to win the whole tournament now – but the general held view of football fans will be whoever wins this Semi-Final tie will go on to win lift the trophy.
Manchester City come into the tie in superb form. They have steamrolled every side they’ve met recently, but it’s fair to say that Real Madrid will be their biggest test to date. They have chased down Arsenal in the Premier League title race, and even Sky Sports pundits were commenting on the huge gulf in class between the two teams when City beat Arsenal recently. Real Madrid won’t be domestic Champions in La Liga this season, but they lifted the Copa del Rey at the weekend and their focus has been on the Champions League for a while now.
Despite being away from home, Manchester City come into the game as favourites. They are trading 2.26 at the time of writing with Real Madrid 3.35 and the draw is 3.7. You have to feel that if Real Madrid are to get through, they need to win this leg with home advantage. I doubt Pep Guardiola will be unhappy with a draw. The sides met in the Champions League in 2020 and 2022 – in 2020 Manchester City won both legs 2-1. While in 2022 we had a similar situation in the sense that City would have been expected to get through – they won the first leg 4-3 with home advantage and then lost the second leg 3-1 in Madrid. However, they pretty much collapsed in that game. They lead 1-0 until the 90th minute before conceding twice, and then losing the game in extra-time.
Guardiola will know how dangerous Real will be with home advantage, especially as they have been building up to this game for a while. I wouldn’t read too much into their recent La Liga performances because the title race has been over since Barcelona won the latest El Clasico. As you would expect, both sides have incredible under-lining numbers. Real Madrid are creating an average xG of 2.4 and conceding 1.1 in La Liga this season while Manchester City are creating an average xG of 2.4 as well, but conceding less at 0.9 in the Premier League.
We’re going to have a top class game here between two excellent sides. This is definitely a game to get excited about! I expect City to come through the tie, but I wouldn’t be rushing to back them at 2.26. That’s a little short for me with Real having home advantage, and as I said above City won’t be unhappy with a draw here. In my opinion this game screams goals – every time we’ve had this fixture we’ve had drama and goals. With so much attacking talent on the pitch Over 2.5 goals jumps off the page here at 1.76. For me that’s worth a confident bet in what should be an excellent game.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.76 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/ReaMci
