Real Madrid v Manchester City: bet on the biggest match of the Champions League knockout phase play-offs!
On February 19, Real Madrid and Manchester City will play a return play-off match of the Champions League knockout phase, and you just cannot miss the battle of the last two tournament winners. But there’s a question: how to be a more profitable sports bettor in your favorite game? Analyze the teams’ form, study the statistics, follow the principles of responsible betting and place your bets using the link with reliable bookmaker 1xBet!
Carlo Ancelotti’s philosophy works
The biggest difference between Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola is that the Italian coach relies on the strengths of the players he has in his team, while the Catalan selects players to fit in his system. It’s easier for Ancelotti to get prepared for a particular opponent in a single game and get the necessary result. That’s exactly what happened in Manchester: Real won 3-2. Los Blancos’ stars benefited from the Citizens’ mistakes, and now Madrid is approaching the return match with an important advantage of the away win.
Moreover, Real are now in their best shape of the whole season. Newcomer Kylian Mbappé has scored 10 goals since the start of the year, Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior can bring victory in any match, and Rodrygo is just unstoppable.
Can Manchester City save the season?
Elimination from the Champions League in February would be a disaster for Manchester City. The Citizens are far behind in the EPL title race, and their only chance to save the season is to succeed in Europe. In order to get to the round of 16, Manchester City need to win at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, but in the last 3 years, Pep Guardiola’s team has played three times on Real’s pitch and has never won.
Manchester City tried to strengthen the squad in the winter transfer window, but there are doubts that the €218 million spent will help in the short term. Center-backs Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis are signings for the future, the expensive Omar Marmoush started scoring only in his fifth match for the new team, and Nico González, who was expected to replace Rodri, got injured in his debut game.
Besides, Guardiola is going to have more headaches because of his goalkeepers’ lack of confidence. Ederson contributed to Madrid’s second equalizer, and when Bellingham was scoring, the Brazilian had gone too far from the goal. Although Guardiola has already left Ederson on the bench due to his poor form, Stefan Ortega doesn’t seem very reliable either.
Odds: W1 – 1.845, draw – 4.51, W2 – 3.895.
We hope that our review will help you evaluate the teams’ chances and make an accurate prediction. Do you still ask the question: how to be a more profitable sports bettor? It’s simple: place your bets responsibly using the link and win with 1xBet, Africa’s best bookmaker!
