Manchester City and Real Madrid reconvene at the Etihad on the back of a 1-1 draw in the Spanish capital as both clubs look to making it to the final of this season's UEFA Champions League. Individual brilliance was key during the first leg meeting as Vinicius Junior set the bar high and Kevin de Bruyne raised it even higher to ensure the game ended at a stalemate at the Santiago Bernabeu. Avoiding a Bernabeu beating was priority number one for Man City's treble chasers, who will undeniably enter Wednesday's second leg with the favourites tag embroidered on their shirts, and they navigated a potential banana skin of a Premier League affair against Everton with ease at the weekend.

The Citizens are now within touching distance from the Premier League table as two goals and an assist from in-form Ilkay Gundogan ensured that the title is theirs to lose with just three games remaining to the season end. They will be crowned champions on the weekend if they can get the better of a lackluster Chelsea as that will mean that their challengers Arsenal will not be able to reach them mathematically even if they were to win their remaining two games. Guardiola's men, however, cannot be preoccupied with thoughts of top-flight glory as they bid to upset the European apple cart. A funny statement goes around European elite clubs: "For a club to win the Champions League, Real Madrid are the team to beat.” Whether that is true or not, we await to see it perhaps during the final slated for Saturday, June 10th in Istanbul. Manchester City head into Wednesday's match on the back of a 22 games unbeaten run having struck together a 15-match winning streak at the Etihad Stadium in all tournaments - scoring at least twice in 14 of those fixtures. Additionally, City have not been beaten on home soil in the Champions League competition since September 2018. 

Statistics and winning streaks mean little to a team with 14 top-tier European titles to their name. Real Madrid have an added incentive to put another blot on Man City's continental notebook this week after the La Liga title was wrestled out of their grasp by their arch-rivals Barcelona. The Los Blancos did all that needed to be done to delay the Catalan giants from being crowned the champions of Spain. However, La Blaugrana's derby win over Espanyol on Sunday evening confirmed Barca's status as La Liga's top dogs. While Ancelotti's men may have the consolation prize of winning the Copa del Rey, retaining their European honour will be at the forefront of their wily manager's mind ahead of their game against Manchester City tomorrow. 

Real Madrid have never won at the Etihad in four previous attempts and they risk losing an Istanbul date with either Inter Milan or AC Milan should the trend continue tomorrow night. Also, a repeat of last season's 4-3 Etihad extravaganza would do for Man City lest they risk forming an unwanted trifecta with their Big Six rivals. Tomorrow night will definitely be a tantalizing clash of the Titans as two of Europe's top clubs showcase their class and prowess on the pitch as they each look forward to making it to the big stage in the final at Istanbul. 

(Image: Goal.com)