A Madrid derby or confirmed first ever Champions League winners – Atletico Madrid await the winners of the second Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Manchester City, having seen off the challenge of Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Manchester City will look back at the first leg with a tinge of regret and disappointment, after holding Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw last Tuesday. Playing at home, and that too against a Real Madrid side without Cristiano Ronaldo, the onus was on Manchester City to take advantage, but instead they put up a bit of a limp performance in front of goal, with Joe Hart, in the second half, needing to make some smart saves to keep the tie level.
Watch the highlights of the match HERE
The second leg at the Bernabeu will see Real Madrid start as the obvious favourites and with Cristiano Ronaldo passed fit for this all-important game, Manchester City have a difficult task at hand if they are to make it to their first ever Champions League final.
"Our motivation must be to reach a final which we've never done before against a great team in a beautiful stadium," Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini was quoted as saying by the club's official website. "It's important, because it's high pressure but we have the personality and the football to beat them.
"Everyone must trust in their team -- we trust in ours and I hope we can demonstrate it in the 90 minutes. We are sure we will need to make a very good performance to reach the final – it would be the first time we've reached it."
This could end up being Pellegrini's last European match as City manager and the Chilean, who is also a former Real Madrid boss, will hope his team perform a lot better than they did in the Premier League at the weekend, when they went down 4-2 to Southampton.
Real Madrid will be happy to have Ronaldo back in the lineup, after the Portuguese missed the first leg with a thigh problem. Zinedine Zidane had said he expects Ronaldo to play the first leg as well after the former Manchester United man travelled with the Real Madrid team, but, after feeling a bit of pain in training on the eve of the match, he was not risked.
This time, though, Zidane is confident Ronaldo will take his place in the starting XI for Real Madrid in their semifinal of the UEFA Champions League against Manchester City.
"Cristiano is in good shape, he is at 100%, he has trained and he is going to play," Zidane told the Real Madrid website. "Cristiano is not a risk, he is well, he is training and he is 100%. We'll see in the game, but today he is 100%.
"His recovery isn't a question of two days, it's been a week. He's recovered bit by bit. He is a player who is like that, he recovers quickly and he looks after himself a lot. We need Cristiano at 100% and the good thing is that he is always on the field."
Real Madrid, however, will be without Casemiro, the midfielder that gives them so much balance in the centre of the park, and Karim Benzema, the third of the "BBC" attacking trio, which also includes Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
Manchester City will also be without a crucial player in David Silva, who has not recovered in time from the hamstring injury that forced him off in the first leg. Pablo Zabaleta is also out with a calf problem, but Pellegrini is hopeful that Yaya Toure, another who missed the first leg, will be fit in time.
Where to Watch Live
The Champions League semifinal is scheduled for an 8.45 p.m. CET (7.45 p.m. BST, 2.45 p.m. ET, 12.15 a.m. IST) start. Below is the live streaming and TV information.
India: TV: Ten 2 and Ten 1 HD. Live Streaming: Tensports Live.
Spain, France, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the Middle East and North Africa: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
UK and Ireland: TV: BT Sport Europe and BT Sport Ultra HD. Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live. Live Streaming: Watch BT Sport.
USA: TV: Fox Sports 1. Live Stream: FoxSoccer2Go.
Canada: TV: TSN 1, 3, 5, 4 and RDS 2. Live Stream: TSN TV.
South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport 3. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
