CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Manchester City’s confirmed line-up vs Real Madrid today: Champions League semi-final second leg

Man City boss Pep Guardiola has almost everyone available for today’s Champions League last-four clash with Real Madrid.

Update: May 17th, 2023 13:44 EDT

CARL RECINEREUTERS

Manchester City will bid to reach their second ever Champions League final today, as they host Real Madrid in a semi-final second leg for which Pep Guardiola has almost a full complement of players available.

Aké unavailable for second leg

The exception to that is defender Nathan Aké, who also missed the first leg at the Bernabéu eight days ago. The Dutchman has been sidelined since picking up a calf problem in City’s Premier League win over Leeds earlier this month.

City head into the return leg at the Etihad Stadium full of confidence. Their victory over Everton on Sunday, combined with Arsenal’s subsequent defeat to Brighton, has left the Sky Blues on the verge of the Premier League title. City need just three points from their final three league games to be certain of securing the English championship for the fifth time in six years.

Your City XI 🙌

XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland

SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis#ManCity | #UCL pic.twitter.com/V1GZQTL3vn
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 17, 2023

At Goodison Park, Guardiola opted to rest key players such as Kevin de Bruyne and Jack Grealish. Others, as is the case of Ilkay Gündogan and Erling Haaland, were brought off in the second half after playing a central role in City’s victory on Merseyside. Guardiola has got his men firing on all cylinders right now, as is evidenced by their run of 11 wins in a row in the Premier League and their sequence of 22 games without defeat in all competitions.

City hunting treble

City are close to emulating a historic feat: they’re not only on the cusp of winning the Premier League and one step away from the Champions League final; they also face city rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on 3 June. So far, United - in 1998/99 - are the only English club ever to lift the league, the domestic cup and the European Cup in the same season.