Manchester City vs Real Madrid prediction 11.02.2025 | Champions League

• Competition: Champions League, 1/16 Finals
• Date: Tuesday, 11th February, 2025
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
• Venue: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)

On Tuesday evening, we will have a real treat in the Champions League 1/16 Finals as the last two CL champions, Manchester City and Real Madrid, will face off in the first leg at Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Manchester City are having one of their worst seasons in a very long time. They had an atrocious period in November and December where they won just once in 13 games in all competitions. Because of that, they were eliminated from the Carabao Cup and lost any chance of getting the title in the PL. Right now, they are in 5th place with 41 points from 24 matches - two points away from the Champions League spots. It seems that even reaching the CL will be a challenge for this season. Moreover, they barely secured the Champions League knockout phase, winning only 11 points. However, even though they struggled, they are a dangerous team, very much capable of winning the CL title.

Real Madrid came to this season after a fantastic one last year when they won the CL and La Liga titles. While they faced some criticism throughout the season (especially for their CL performances), they are doing fine. In La Liga, Los Blancos are at the top of the league with 50 points in 23 matches. However, they have massive injury problems at the back, and that will definitely be a challenge to overcome against such a strong team as MC.

Manchester City vs Real Madrid pick: Over 2.5 goals

Manchester City has shown massive defensive flaws as they failed to keep a clean sheet in the last five games. But against good teams, that was really evident, considering they allowed four goals against PSG and five against Arsenal. And since their offense is doing well, we have constantly seen high-scoring games. They were over 2.5 goals in the last nine games!

Real Madrid' offense is fantastic, having scored three or more goals in five of the last seven matches - 71%. However, we do not trust their defense as they have multiple injuries on the defensive line. In the last three matches, they failed to keep a clean sheet. Just like RM, the Citizens were often over 2.5 goals lately. We saw three or more goals in 16 of the last 18 matches - 89%.

In the last three h2h games, we saw three or more goals on two occasions, with an average of four goals per game during that three-game period. Considering all the above, we expect a high-scoring game, most likely with both teams scoring.