Will the new kids on the block finally upstage the kings of Europe and establish a new world order in European football? That’s the question at the forefront as Manchester City seek to get over the Real Madrid hump in the UCL.

Widely expected to dominate Real Madrid in the first legs, Manchester City again saw why Los Blancos are called the “Kings of Europe”. A moment of magic from Vinicius Jr was cancelled out by another inspired display by Kevin de Bruyne. Instead of a City lead, the tie is finely poised at 1-1- as Real Madrid travel to the Etihad Stadium.

Armed with their Norwegian cyborg Erling Haaland, the Cityzens have never been better placed to win the Champions League. But, as they say, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man”, and if the first leg was any indication, Real Madrid are not going away quietly.

Manchester City is full of confidence after their recent Premier League performances, with the title already in the pocket and the chance to achieve an historical milestone winning the UCL, Premier League and FA Cup. Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in their last 25 home Champions League games (Only two teams in the history of the competition have had a longer unbeaten home run: 38 games for Barcelona (2013-2020) and 29 games for Bayern Munich (1998-2002)), and this one is one of their biggest games in their recent history.

Pep Guardiola has arguably the deepest squad in Europe at his disposal. Leading Everton at the weekend, he had the luxury of bringing on Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish off the bench. Clearly, injury worries are the last thought on Pep’s mind with such a deep squad. Even the sole absentee, Nathan Ake, could return for this fixture, marking a clean injury slate for the Cityzens.

Carlo Ancelotti rotated his squad heavily on the weekend against Getafe in La Liga, giving a clear glimpse of his starters for this much more important game. He has no important injury concerns.

The Manchester City vs Real Madrid head-to-head record doesn’t have anything to separate them either. However, a draw at Santiago Bernabeu is still a very good result. Furthermore, Manchester City are a different beast at home.

Expect Real Madrid to put up a valiant fight before succumbing to the might of the new kids on the block. Start of another European dynasty? Manchester City have all the tools to do it this year.

该文章通过有道机器翻译，仅供参考:

这些新生代的球队最终会抢了欧洲足球之王的风头，在欧洲足球中建立一个新的世界秩序吗?这是曼城试图在欧冠联赛中超越皇马的首要问题。

人们普遍认为曼城将在首回合击败皇马，曼城再次看到了为什么白衣军团被称为“欧洲之王”。小维尼修斯的神奇时刻被凯文·德·布鲁恩的另一个充满灵感的表演所抵消。不是曼城领先，而是皇马客场挑战阿提哈德球场，双方打成1-1平。

在挪威机器人厄林·哈兰德的帮助下，曼城在赢得欧冠的竞争中处于前所未有的有利地位。但是，就像他们说的，“要成为男人，你必须打败男人”，如果第一回合有什么暗示的话，皇家马德里不会安静地离开。

在最近的英超表现之后，曼城充满了信心，冠军已经在囊中，并且有机会实现一个历史性的里程碑，赢得欧冠、英超和足总杯。瓜迪奥拉的球队在最近的25场欧冠主场比赛中保持不败(欧冠历史上只有两支球队拥有更长的主场不败纪录:巴塞罗那队(2013-2020)38场，拜仁慕尼黑队(1998-2002)29场)，这场比赛是他们最近历史上最重要的比赛之一。

瓜迪奥拉拥有欧洲最强大的阵容。在周末率领埃弗顿的比赛中，他很幸运地把贝尔纳多·席尔瓦和杰克·格里利什从替补席上换了下来。很明显，对于这样一支阵容深厚的球队，伤病的担忧是佩普最不愿意考虑的。即使是唯一缺阵的内森·阿克也可能在这场比赛中复出，这标志着曼城的伤病名单将被清除。

安切洛蒂在周末对阵赫塔菲的比赛中对阵容进行了大量的轮换，让人们清楚地看到他的首发球员在这场更重要的比赛中的表现。他没有严重的伤病问题。

曼城和皇马的正面交锋记录也没有什么能把他们分开。然而，在圣地亚哥伯纳乌平局仍然是一个非常好的结果。此外，曼城在主场是一头不同的野兽。

期待皇马在屈服于新球员的力量之前进行一场勇敢的战斗。另一个欧洲王朝的开始?曼城今年有足够的能力做到这一点。