Last year, they wrote the club history; this year, they could change the entire sport’s history. The treble, although it has already been seen, is an undertaking as it is, as history confirms, difficult to achieve. But still—achievable. However, Manchester City have the opportunity to do something that no one has managed to do in Europe: to defend the Triple Crown. And they are well on their way to doing so.On that road, their next rival will be Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals (first match 3-3). It can also be the most challenging until the end of the season, because even though bookmakers favor the current European champion, Real Madrid are the true ruler of Europe and as such are capable of upsetting anyone at any time. Taught by the experience of previous seasons, Manchester City know this very well.##EDITORS_CHOICE##And, again, that same Manchester City taught us never to doubt their power and ability to push boundaries. No one in Europe was able to complete the mission they embarked on this season. Only Oakland City (New Zealand) and Egypt’s Al Ahly can speak on the topic of defending the treble in the world. In Europe – no one. Throughout history, Celtic (1966/67), Ajax (1971/72), PSV (1987/88), Manchester United (1998/99), Inter Milan (2009/10), Barcelona and Bayern managed to collect trophies in the domestic championship, the national cup and the Champions League, i.e. the former Champions Cup, in the same season. The Catalan and Munich clubs managed that twice, however, but neither in consecutive seasons (Barça 2008/09 and 2014/15, Bayern 2012/13 and 2019/20).Manchester City will try to do so because, as Bernardo Silva admits, the realization that they could do something unprecedented is fuel for him and his teammates.”We want to create that legacy. There were times when we didn’t play well, we didn’t control the games and conceded a lot of late goals, which is not normal for us. The team that won the treble came back with a hangover, but again we have that hunger to win every three days”, said the Portuguese midfielder, but also reminded that the line between success and failure is painfully thin.Just three days after the second leg of the quarter-final with Los Blancos at the Etihad, the ‘new’ Premier League leader faces the semi-final match with Chelsea at Wembley in the FA Cup.”In one week we can lose all three competitions, so we have to stay focused and do the job well until the end. Two weeks ago when we played against Arsenal (0-0 in the Premier League) everything seemed lost. Now It looks like City will win the League. That’s the beautiful side of football. Everything changes so quickly.”Bernardo Silva is feeling confident ahead of Manchester City’s match against “The Kings of the Champions League”, Real Madrid 👑 pic.twitter.com/YbZtySks6H— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 16, 2024 One thing, at least until today, has not changed in the clashes between Manchester City and Real Madrid – Los Blancos’ performance at the Etihad. The rivalry between the two teams is not long, it dates back to 2012, when they met in the group stage of the Champions League. Since then, not counting the current season, the have met four more times in the knockout phase, and not once did Real win at the Etihad. In the first two visits to the blue part of Manchester, they managed to get a draw, and as time passed and City’s team grew with the arrival of Guardiola, the Blancos became more and more powerless. The last three duels ended in three defeats for Real, two of them with four goals in the net. A year ago in this same place, the Royal Club was humiliated (4-0).”I think we have forgotten what happened then. We are only focused on tomorrow’s game, we only think about what happened last week. Tradition says that Real Madrid never won at the Etihad? Rules are made to be broken,” Carlo Ancelotti said, among other things, at the conference before the second leg.Partly because of that tradition, City are the clear favorite tonight, as well as because of the fact that the Italian specialist will not be able to count on the suspended Aurelien Tchouameni and the previously injured David Alaba and Thibaut Courtois. In the meantime, Eder Militao has recovered and joined team training, but according to the announcements of the Madrid media, he is not ready enough to start the game, and the hole created by the absence of the French midfielder in the heart of the defense will be filled by the recently unreliable Nacho. This should also be the only change in the starting line-up of the Madrid team compared to the first match.There will be more of those among the Cityzens. First of all, Kevin de Bruyne, who felt nauseous before the start of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, will be ready to play instead of Mateo Kovacic, who replaced him in the first match, while some British media also announced the return of Kyle Walker to the starting line-up, which will least liked by Vinicius Junior, since the experienced Englishman is the only one of City’s defenders capable of matching the speed of the Brazilian striker. Which, after all, he showed in previous seasons.Arteta & Co fighting for Gunners’ first UCL semifinals in 15 years – ‘relieved’ Bavarians awaitThe eyes of the English football public will be particularly focused on Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham, two candidates for the position of ‘no.10’ in the national team for the upcoming European Championship. Unlike Foden, who equalized for City with a beautiful goal in the first match, Bellingham didn’t impress anyone with the game from eight days ago. However, he assures that he is ready for tonight’s duel.”I’m more nervous about the press conference. These are the games you come to Real Madrid for. I can’t wait to get out on the field and play,” said the Real Madrid player.”City are treble winners, of course people think they are the favorites. They are an incredible team, but we believe in our abilities. And we are a very good team. We are Real Madrid,” Bellingham concluded.🚨 Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 41 games at the Etihad! 🏟😲💪Do you think Real Madrid can win tomorrow? pic.twitter.com/o8zuiPwLpP— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) April 16, 2024 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUEQuarterfinals – second legTuesdayDortmund – Atl. Madrid 4-2 (2-0)/Brandt 34, Maatsen 39, Fullkrug 71, Sabitzer 74 – Hummels 49 og, Correa 64/Dortmund win 5-4 on aggBarcelona – PSG 1-4 (1-1)/Raphinha 12 – Dembele 40, Vitinha 54, Mbappe 61 pen, 89/PSG win 6-4 on aggWednesday22:00: (2.45) Bayern (3.60) Arsenal (2.95) /first leg 2-2/22:00: (1.67) Man.City (3.80) Real Madrid (5.30) /first leg 3-3/***odds are subject to change***
