Real Madrid – Manchester City. Alexander Vishnevskiy’s prediction

Real Madrid are the obvious favourites at Santiago Bernabeu, but it’s hard to pick a winner here, partly because we don’t know if Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo are fit to play, and partly because City showed a good account of themselves in the first leg and having avoided conceding an away goal, the tie is finely poised. Ronaldo has now had a weeks rest in order to get himself right for this game, as this is by far the most important game for Real Madrid this season. Carvajal and Marcelo were also rested at the weekend and their energy can be key for Madrid. Zidane likes to use his full-backs in an attacking way, so they’ll likely cause City a lot of problems.

In front of a home crowd I expect Real Madrid to win. But the odds on their win are too low (about 1.50).  I also expect the hosts to come flying out of the blocks, as they will know how important it is to take the lead. With this in mind, Real Madrid to win HT/FT looks a good bet. Just like they did against Wolfsburg, Real Madrid can explode into life from the off and stun their opponents before the break.