Man City vs Real Madrid, the huge draw of the Champions League playoffs: “We deserve it”

Real Madrid and Manchester City meet again. The two teams to have won the last last three editions of the Champions League (Madrid in 2022 and 2024 and City sandwiched between in 2023) were drawn to face each other in the 2024/25 knockout round playoffs in this afternoon’s draw. The winner will advance to the Round of 16.

It will be interesting to see how both teams fare in this first expanded format. Madrid and City were far from their dominant selves in the early stages of the competition - Ancelotti’s team suffering defeats to Lille, AC Milan and Liverpool, while City stumbled in their games against Sporting Clube, Juventus and PSG while being held by Inter and Feyenoord.

With 16 titles between them (Madrid with 15 of them), this is by far the biggest and most attractive tie in the playoffs - and with the most at stake for the teams and Ancelotti and Guardiola, who have both been under-fire at certain moments this season. For Madrid, perhaps the threat of being eliminated so early would be tougher to take - the last time they failed to make it to the Last 16 was in 1989-90 - 35 years ago...

The Spanish giants have made a total of 44 appearances in this tournament compared to City’s 16 and while this this playoff will being up the Mancunians’ 138th and 139th games in the tournament, Madrid are just three games away from playing their 500th game in the competition - they will reach that landmark if they make it to the next round.

How many times have Real Madrid and Manchester City played each other and who has won the most games?

In total, Madrid and City have now met 14 times in the Champions League - all of those games were in the later knockout rounds. The first meeting was in 2012. and with this new upcoming tie will be the fourth

Let’s take a look back on those encounters.

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2012/13: Group stage

Real Madrid’s first encounter with Manchester City was in the group stage of the 2012/13 tournament. They landed in Group D along with Borussia Dortmund and Ajax. A baptism of fire for the English club, who were making just their third appearance in the European Cup/Champions League and had to visit the imposing Bernabéu on matchday 1. The first 45 minutes ended in stalemate then Edin Dzeko fired the visitors ahead with 20 minutes left. That opening goal transformed the game - Marcelo responded for Madrid, prompting an avalanche of goals in the last five minutes. Aleksandar Kolarov restored City’s lead with a precision free-kick but Mourinho’s team hit back with last-gasp strikes from Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo to take the game 3-2.

The return fixture in Manchester on matchday 5 ended 1-1. Benzema got on the end of a Di María centre to slot in from close range with barely 10 minutes gone. The locals were back in it when Arbeloa hauled down David Silva inside the box on 72 minutes. The Madrid full-back was handed his marching orders and Kun Agüero tucked in the resulting spot-kick. With three draws and no wins, City bowed out bottom of the group while Dortmund and Madrid advanced.

2015/16: Semi-finals

The next meeting produced similarly close results but with the same outcome. City reached the semi-final, the furthest they had ever gone in the competition after seeing off Dynamo Kyiv then PSG in the knockout rounds. Madrid meanwhile had left Roma and Wolfsburg in their wake. The first leg in Manchester was a tense affair and unsurprisingly ended without goals.

The return was settled by a soft goal - Gareth Bale’s shot from a tight angle clipped Fernando, looped over Joe Hart and in off the stanchion. Both teams had a couple of chances to add to the scoreline but the ball wouldn’t go in and it ended 1-0, setting up an all-Madrid final in Milan.

2019/20: Round of 16

The tide finally turned for City in 2020 in a tie that was directly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The first leg took place at the Bernabéu on 26 February - little over a fortnight later, Spain’s government declared a state of emergency, plunging the whole country into a lengthy lockdown. Seven years on from their first meeting, the gulf between the two teams had noticeably narrowed.

Isco, totally unmarked, slotted in to put Madrid ahead on the hour but City were soon back level. Gabriel Jesus nodded in a De Bruyne cross with a quarter of an hour to go and the Belgian had the final word from the penalty spot to make it 1-2 on the night.

The return leg was due to be played on 17 March but was postponed by UEFA due to rising Coronavirus cases and deaths. The game eventually took place behind closed doors on 7 August. Raheem Sterling increased City’s advantage on nine minutes, pouncing on a defensive mix-up and while Benzema pulled one back to give Madrid a fighting chance, it was all over when Gabriel Jesus was first to the ball after another calamitous blunder at the back to stroke in the winner.

2021/22: Semi-finals

City and Madrid were back at the stage two years later to produce one of the most pulsating semi-final ties in recent memory. Both had won their groups but Guardiola’s team, the reigning English champions, started out as favorites. Madrid on the other hand had muddled their way through the knockout rounds with a series of heroic comebacks against all the odds. Ancelotti’s team would pull out yet another miraculous turnaround to deny City a place in the final.

City stormed to a 3-1 lead in the first leg at the Etihad with goals from De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden but they let Madrid in contention after Vinicius clawed a goal back and Benzema converted a late penalty.

In the deciding leg, Mahrez was the first to find the net - his 73rd minute strike made the aggregate score 5-3, But astonishingly, Madrid defied the odds once again - Rodrygo scored twice within two minutes to level the tie on full-time and Benzema sent the Bernabéu into a state of frenzy by bagging a winner, five minutes into stoppage-time. It was one of the club’s greatest comebacks of all-time, drawing parallels with fabled clashes of years gone by when they bounced back to beat Derby County, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Inter Milan when all seemed lost.

2022/23: Semi-finals

Last year, City managed to get their revenge. They had learned their lesson: 90 minutes at the Bernabéu is a very, very long time and you can never write Madrid off until the final whistles blows. Once again, City were the bookies’ favorites and while the first leg in the Spanish capital ended 1-1, there was no contest in the return.

Bernardo Silva, Akanji and Julián Álvarez were on target to make it 4-0 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate. Pep’s team were on their way to the final for the second time in three years.

2023/24: Quarter finals

Inevitably, Madrid and City met for the third year running with the first leg at the Bernabéu on 9 April. It was another high-scoring match - the visitors led twice with goals from Bernardo Silva and Josko Gvardiol but Madrid showed their dogged resilience once again and managed to fight back as it ended 3-3 on the whistle.

The return leg was just as close, Kevin De Bruyne canceled out Rodrygo’s opener and the score remained locked at 1-1 after extra-time. It was settled on penalties with Andriy Lunin putting in a heroic performance. Luka Modric saw his effort saved, but City were unable to capitalise with Bernardo Silva and ex-madridista Mateo Kovacic both missing their spot-kicks. The shootout ended 4-5, to earn Madrid a place in the semis against Bayern.

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