Man City receive Real Madrid second leg blow as Carlo Ancelotti sends ‘sacrifice’ warning
Manchester City’s task to defeat Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League clash next week may be even tougher than first thought.
Despite taking the lead twice at the Etihad Stadium, a late Jude Bellingham strike stole victory for the reining champions in the dying minutes of the game.
They will now have to overturn a 3-2 deficit at the stadium where Madrid have tasted defeat three times this season – losing to AC Milan, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.
All of those games were in the earlier part of the season when the team was struggling with injuries and a lack of cohesion after Kylian Mbappe’s arrival.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that they will be even stronger for the second leg as they expect to have defensive reinforcements back in the mix.
They began the first leg with midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde in defence while Raul Asencio, the inexperienced prospect also started in defence, with squad player Dani Ceballos also starting in midfield.
That make-shift side should experience some changes in the second leg, as revealed by Ancelotti who expects injured duo Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba to play through the pain next week.
“For the second leg, we need (Antonio) Rudiger and (David) Alaba; I think they will be back for the second leg,” the Madrid head coach said during his post-match press conference. “The more emergency, the more sacrifice.”
Of course, Rudiger loves a physical battle and has often come out as the victor in his battles with Haaland, who hadn’t scored against Madrid until last night when the German was absent. He also netted the winner in the penalty shootout last season.
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How Madrid could line up
Despite Madrid coping relatively well against a full-strength City side, they knew they were far from their best.
The match-winner Bellingham was quick to shine a light on the two centre-backs, saying “I want to say something… Tchouameni and Asencio were brilliant.”
Up against Erling Haaland, the duo were a solid pairing even though they are far from being a first-choice pairing; Madrid has been without Eder Militao since November, Rudiger has missed the last three games and Alaba has managed just 74 minutes of action since December 2023.
Although, Asencio may be used to partner Rudiger with Tchoumeni stepping back into midfield alongside Eduardo Camavinga and Jude Bellingham, with the Spanish 21-year-old managing one last-man tackle, two clearances, one blocked shot, two tackles, a 94% pass accuracy and he won all four of his ground duels.
It looks like Madrid have unearthed another utility defender in the same mould as the previously heralded Nacho, who was key for Ancelotti’s side as a back-up defender who could feature in the full-back positions and at centre-back when the main starters were out injured.
