A disaster in the City and Real Madrid defences! What line-ups will both teams field?

The Champions League semi-final kicks off on Tuesday night and fans around the world are excited for it. But at the moment, perhaps not so much the coaches of both teams, who have to deal with major absences in the defensive ranks. What line-ups will Manchester City and Real Madrid field?

Manchester City

Let’s start with the Citizens. One hundred percent absentee is João Cancelo, who will not start due to yellow cards. But disaster for Guardiola came with the injury to Kyle Walker, who almost certainly won’t start either, leaving City without a right-back.

The disaster is compounded by the fact that John Stones, who could also start in that position, will probably not be available due to injury.

So the Spanish strategist has practically several options at the moment. The first one is to bet on 19-year-old youngster Egan-Riley, who has only two starts for the Citizens. This is quite a big risk, considering that he will be opposed by Vinicius Junior.

The other option is to change the formation and play three stoppers. Some media, on the other hand, are estimating Nathan Aké at right-back. However, there is another surprising option in play and that is the deployment of the versatile Fernandinho. At least it is great news for Guardiola that the leader of the defence Rubén Dias is back.

Real Madrid

But Carlo Ancelotti hasn’t had a restful sleep either. Almost certainly Casemiro, a key player in the defensive phase, will not start. There was a big unknown with left-back Ferland Mendy, who has missed the last two games through injury, and David Alaba is reportedly only a 60% chance of starting. That would be too many defensive hits.

Fortunately, at least one position should be solved, as Mendy has been cleared by doctors to start. Alaba is expected to start in the starting lineup, but it’s still a question mark.

Toni Kroos will be pulled into Casemiro’s defensive midfielder position, and the recently key Federico Valverde will not be missing from the starting lineup. However, it remains to be seen whether he will slot in at centre midfield or on the right wing. Carlo Ancelotti himself said in his press conference that it is a question mark whether Rodrygo or Camavinga will start in the starting line-up.

Manchester City’s expected line-up

Ederson
Aké – Dias – Laporte – Zinchenko
Rodri
De Bruyne – B. Silva
Jesus – Foden – Sterling

Real Madrid’s expected line-up

Courtois
Carvajal – Militao – Alaba – Mendy
Kroos – Camavinga – Modric
Valverde – Benzema – Vinícius

Source: UEFA, Manchester City, Real Madrid