Real Madrid News
Premier League legends back Man City to beat Real Madrid in UCL semi-finals
Real Madrid and Manchester City are worthy semifinalists in the UEFA Champions League. While Los Blancos are the defending champions, Pep Guardiola’s are almost the world’s very best and miss only the Champions League trophy from their cabinet.
Ironically, the two teams met last year at the same stage of the competition. The men in blue took a 4-3 lead in the first leg after a chaotic game. Moreover, an early goal in the second leg extended their lead on aggregate to two goals and their victory appeared assured.
However, two goals in two minutes from Rodrygo Goes in stoppage time bridged the gap before Karim Benzema’s extra-time winner sent the Premier League side crashing.
With the two teams set to face off again, there is unsurprisingly a buzz around the fixture. Many have given their opinions and predictions on who will prevail.
Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher and Premier League legend was one such pundit who picked the English side as his best bet, saying (h/t Madrid Zone): “I think Manchester City will just go through to the final.”
Arsenal and Barcelona legend Thierry Henry was another who opened up on who he thought would progress and said (h/t Madrid Zone):
“I’m betting against Real Madrid, I am going with Manchester City, they will reach the final.”
The first leg of the semifinal will be at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 9th and the second leg will be at Etihad a week later.
With the order of the home and away ties against Pep Guardiola’s side interchanged when compared to last season, it remains to be seen if it has any impact on the final result.
Moreover, it is important to note that Los Blancos will not have the services of Eder Militao for the first leg and could well miss David Alaba too.
According to AS, Real Madrid have sent a three-year contract offer with improved wages to Dani Ceballos and trust that the midfielder will continue at the club.
Ceballos is the last among the seven Los Blancos’ stars who entered the 2022/23 season with an expiring contract whose future is yet to be resolved.
Mariano Diaz, Marco Asensio, and Karim Benzema have all left Real Madrid while Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Nacho Fernandez are all set to continue at the Santiago Bernabeu for one more year.
As such, Ceballos remains the only player whose future remains unclear at this point.
The 26-year-old Spanish international has shown that he can offer value to the team and the club and manager Carlo Ancelotti are understood to ‘love’ him and want to retain his services.
Fans, too, made their feelings about the midfielder very clear this past weekend when Real Madrid played Athletic Club, as they chanted ‘Ceballos, stay!’
The Merengues have sent in a three-year proposal to the former Real Betis ace which includes an improvement in his wages. As such, the club expect him to pen the deal and continue at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, Ceballos is yet to make a decision as he is weighing up the fact that he will have to compete for a place with six other midfielders.
Indeed, Real Madrid already have Kroos, Modric, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, and Aurelien Tchouameni as competition for Ceballos. Now, they will also add Jude Bellingham to the roster, further amping up the battle for places.
Ceballos has two more offers apart from the one from Real Madrid – one from Spain and Italy each, although his former club Real Betis have not sent a proposal yet.
With the season over and less than three weeks left on his contract, it remains to be seen what the Real Madrid ace decides.
