Preview: Real Madrid vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Clashing for the 15th time in the Champions League, European titans Real Madrid and Manchester City headline matchweek six of the league phase at the Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.

Los Blancos boss Xabi Alonso has come under increasing pressure after a catastrophic 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo at the weekend, whereas the Sky Blues head to the Spanish capital on a three-match winning streak.

Match preview

Four points below Barcelona in the La Liga title race, boasting just two wins from their last seven games in all tournaments and suffering their first home loss of the season on Sunday evening, Real Madrid have arguably hit crisis territory by their lofty standards.

Everything that could have gone wrong against Celta Vigo did go wrong for Los Blancos, who saw their defensive injury crisis worsen, attackers miss several promising chances and no fewer than three players handed red cards in a Bernabeu implosion.

From overseeing 13 wins from his first 14 games in charge to just two from his last 630 minutes of football, Alonso's future in the Spanish capital has inevitably been called into question, as dire results succeed reports of alleged player discontent.

However, the ex-Liverpool midfielder will undoubtedly be in control of the reins for the visit of Man City in the Champions League, where the 15-time winners have collected a pleasing 12 points from 15 on offer, although they only just scraped by Olympiacos 4-3 on matchday five courtesy of a Kylian Mbappe quadruple.

Nevertheless, earlier victories over Juventus and Marseille at the Bernabeu means that Real head into Wednesday's blockbuster with a 100% record in UCL home games this season, and 13 of their last 14 group stage/league-phase matches on home soil have ended in victory.

Tackling Alonso's current club after being outwitted by Alonso's former club, Man City have their own wrongs to right from a 2-0 home defeat, succumbing to Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick's goals against Bayer Leverkusen on matchday five.

After overseeing the Citizens' first Champions League loss of the season, Pep Guardiola - who made a staggering 10 changes for that fixture - conceded that he may have gone too far with his alterations, especially as his side are now outside the automatic last-16 places.

Collecting 10 points from the first 15 on offer, the ninth-placed Citizens trail the coveted top eight places by virtue of an inferior goal difference to Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Chelsea, and results on Tuesday could bump them further down the rankings.

However, Guardiola's men have responded to their Leverkusen loss with a three-game Premier League-winning sequence, conquering Leeds United and Fulham in multi-goal thrillers before a straightforward 3-0 success over Sunderland on Saturday.

All too familiar with the team in white, Man City are aiming to avoid a third straight loss to Real Madrid after last season's 6-3 aggregate beating in the knockout round playoffs, but they have won just one of their seven previous visits to the Bernabeu - a 2-1 triumph in February 2020.

Real Madrid Champions League form:

Real Madrid form (all competitions):

Manchester City Champions League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Team News

Already working around a decimated defence, Alonso's backline crisis worsened against Celta Vigo when Eder Militao suffered a first-half hamstring injury, one that will certainly rule him out of Wednesday's fixture.

Fellow defenders Dani Carvajal (knee), Trent Alexander-Arnold (thigh) and Ferland Mendy (hamstring) welcome Militao back into the treatment room, while Dean Huijsen and David Alaba both face a race against time to recover from muscle strains.

Alonso is therefore down to the bare bones at the back, although he does not need to concern himself with suspensions, as Alvaro Carreras and Fran Garcia - who were both sent off at the weekend - will serve their bans in La Liga.

At the other end of the field, Mbappe has already hit a career-best nine goals in one Champions League season, and the flying Frenchman has registered seven against Man City alone in the competition.

Man City boast a near fully-fit defensive contingent in contrast, but John Stones was an unexpected absentee from the win over Sunderland with an unspecified injury, one which Guardiola could not give more details on at full time.

Stones's availability will remain clouded in uncertainty before Guardiola's press conference, but the visitors will definitely still be missing midfield duo Mateo Kovacic (ankle) and Rodri (thigh) for the trip to the Spanish capital.

Provider of two assists on Saturday - including a wonderful rabona for Phil Foden's header - Rayan Cherki has done all he can to earn a first Champions League start for Man City this week.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras; Tchouameni, Camavinga; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr; Mbappe

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez; Cherki, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland

We say: Real Madrid 2-3 Manchester City

Even though Man City have far more defenders available than their esteemed hosts, Guardiola's backline still does not inspire confidence, so Mbappe and co may be well-placed to take advantage.

However, Real's rearguard injury crisis and stuttering recent form is hard to ignore, so the Premier League giants should fight fire with fire to come out on top in a Champions League classic.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.