How Real Madrid could line up against Manchester City

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti will work around the absence of the suspended Eder Militao for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with Manchester City on Tuesday at the Bernabeu.

The Brazilian was booked for the third time in this season's tournament during the second leg of their quarter-final with Chelsea, incurring a one-match continental ban in the process.

Militao could be one of two defensive absentees for the holders here, as Ferland Mendy has been out since the end of March with a calf injury and has only partially trained with the team ahead of the first leg.

With Militao watching on from the naughty step, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba will form the central barrier in front of Thibaut Courtois, who is aiming for a fourth successive Champions League clean sheet.

Dani Carvajal and Eduardo Camavinga are primed to occupy the full-back roles for Los Blancos, who received a timely boost over Luka Modric's fitness during Saturday's Copa del Rey final win over Osasuna.

The 37-year-old battled back from a hamstring problem to come on as a late substitute, and he should now be given the thumbs-up to start alongside Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde, demoting Aurelien Tchouameni to the bench in the process. Meanwhile, Dani Ceballos has picked up a quadriceps problem and is set to sit this one out.

A few weeks on from scoring twice against Chelsea, Rodrygo was Real Madrid's two-goal saviour in the Copa del Rey final, and the Brazilian is expected to keep his spot in the final third alongside Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.

Always one for the bright lights of Europe, Vinicius has come up with a goal or assist in each of his last 10 Champions League starts - the only player on record to do so 11 times in a row is Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Courtois; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Camavinga; Valverde, Kroos, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr

> Click here to see how Man City could line up for the first leg