Champions League: probable lineups Manchester City – Real Madrid

17.03.26 FT Champions League

Manchester City

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Real Madrid

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After falling in Madrid (3-0) last week, Manchester City must pull out all the stops to turn things around against Real Madrid this Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 20:00 GMT at the Etihad Stadium, in the round of 16 of the Champions League.

For this clash, Pep Guardiola is expected to make changes to his starting eleven in an effort to reverse the momentum. He can count, among others, on the return of Kovacic, who featured in the last league match. However, Gvardiol and Lewis remain sidelined.

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On the other hand, Arbeloa has reasons to celebrate with three players back in the squad: Bellingham, Carreras, and Mbappé. The French international, who has scored 13 goals in this season's Champions League, is expected to start on the bench. Alaba, Ceballos, Mendy, Militao, and Rodrygo are out.

Here are the probable lineups for both teams:

Manchester City: Donnarumma - Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Guehi, Aït-Nouri - Rodri - Semenyo, Bernardo Silva, O'Reilly, Cherki - Haaland.

Real Madrid: Courtois - Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen, Rüdiger, Carreras - Valverde, Tchouameni, Pitarch, Güler - Brahim Diaz, Vinicius.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

Related teams and leagues

Manchester City

Real Madrid

Champions League