Real Madrid vs Man City Champions League semi-final preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, starting line-ups

Real Madrid and Man City meet in their UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday 9 May.

Where to watch Real Madrid vs Man City on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.

What do you need to know?

Having played their first competitive game in September 2012, Real Madrid and Man City are now very familiar with one another. While they have identical records in their eight past encounters (W3 D2 L3), 14-time European champions Madrid have tended to win at this stage of the competition. They eliminated Manuel Pellegrini's City in the semi-finals in 2015/16 (agg: 1-0), then beat Pep Guardiola's side at the same stage last season (agg: 6-5) after extra time in a remarkable second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu.

City have not won a major UEFA trophy since the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup, though they reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2021, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in Porto. They have won four Premier League titles under Guardiola, but the biggest prize of all still eludes them. However, in Erling Haaland they may have a weapon even Real Madrid cannot resist. In the Norwegian's only previous meetings with Spanish clubs, he scored twice in each of his three meetings with Sevilla – two with Dortmund, one with City on Matchday 1 this season.

Starting line-ups

Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Rüdiger, Alaba, Camavinga; Modrić, Kroos; Valverde; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinícius Júnior
Suspended: Éder Militão

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Rúben Dias, Akanji; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gündoğan; Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Grealish
Suspended: None

Form guide

Real Madrid
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WLWLWW
Where they stand: 3rd in Liga, Copa del Rey winners

Man City
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWWWD
Where they stand: 1st in Premier League, FA Cup final

Expert predictions

Graham Hunter, Real Madrid reporter

These exceptional coaches have only met twice in UEFA competition - both times in the Champions League semi-finals. Each time Carlo Ancelotti and Madrid have progressed to win the final (2014, 2022) and the ties, featuring Madrid, City and Bayern Munich, have produced 16 goals. What a treat to have a re-match which promises equal entertainment. Madrid will note Militão’s absence - especially against Haaland. Rodrygo rescued Los Blancos last season, ultra-dramatically, and warmed up with another double at the weekend to win the Spanish Cup. May the best team win.

Matthew Howarth, Man City reporter

For all City’s attacking prowess, they have often come up short defensively in the Champions League’s latter stages. The manner of their quarter-final triumph over 2020 winners Bayern, however, suggests they have learned from past mistakes. Guardiola’s side should not have lost last season’s semi-final to Real – they carved out enough chances to win both legs of the tie quite comfortably – but what better opportunity to make amends?

What the coaches say

Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach: "Man City may seem unstoppable, but we will have our chances and we can compete. We are not thinking about stopping just one player - they are a team. We want a positive result. We don't want to suffer, we want to play well. The objective is to avoid problems. It will be a demanding match."

Pep Guardiola, Man City coach: "We arrive here with encouragement. The way we are playing is really good. We are not here for revenge just another opportunity. One day we will win it. We come here this season to do it. It didn't happen last year because we played Real in this competition."

Where is the 2023 Champions League final?

UEFA via Getty Images

Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium will host the final on Saturday 10 June 2023. Real Madrid or Man City will be the designated home team against AC Milan or Inter.

The winners gain a place in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League group stage, if they have not qualified via their domestic competition.