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Portugal legend Luis Figo believes that Manchester City are the favorites in their Champions League semi-final tie against reigning European champions Real Madrid.
Real Madrid will welcome Manchester City to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday night (May 9). The return leg is set to be played at City’s Etihad Stadium next Wednesday (May 17).
The two teams squared off in last season’s semi-finals as well, with Los Blancos coming out on top with a 6-5 aggregate scoreline. The Cityzens are eager to overcome the All Whites in this season’s semi-final to take a massive step towards winning their first-ever Champions League trophy. And Figo, who plied his trade at the Santiago Bernabeu for five years, reckons the English side are the favorites to secure a place in the final this time around.
When asked to pick a favorite for Tuesday’s mouth-watering semi-final, Figo said (via Mundo Deportivo):
“City plays against the best club in history in the European Cup and there are times when history has its weight. City are favorites, but Madrid are always alive until the end in matches. It will be a nice semi-final to watch.”
The winner of this tie will meet either Inter Milan or AC Milan in the Champions League final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on June 10.
Manchester City and Real Madrid have met eight times in the Champions League thus far. They have secured three wins each and played out two draws.
Pep Guardiola claims Real Madrid-Manchester City tie will be decided in Manchester
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that their semi-final clash with Real Madrid will not be decided in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Spaniard is confident that the Etihad Stadium will witness the conclusion of the highly-anticipated tie next week.
Speaking at Monday’s press conference, the former Barcelona manager said (via Managing Madrid):
“Being stable is the most important thing. The important thing is we are trying to get better every year. We were prepared last year too. We are the same manager, mainly the same players but completely different games. The difference is the second leg is at home and everything will be decided in Manchester.”
Last year, Carlo Ancelotti’s side had the advantage of playing all of their knockout second legs at home, and they came from behind in all three of them.
They were beaten 4-3 in the first leg in Manchester only to turn it around specularly in the return leg, securing a 3-1 victory. With the entire Santiago Bernabeu behind them, Madrid scored two goals in the dying embers of regulation time before scoring the winning goal in the first half of extra time.
