Man City to suffer a Real backlash in Champions League

The new season’s Champions League gets underway this week and all eyes will turn to Group D with the undoubted highlight of the first round of fixtures seeing Spanish Champions Real Madrid entertain Premier League holders Manchester City at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.

City were given a rude awakening in their debut season in Europe’s elite competition last term, in which they failed to qualify from a difficult group which included eventual finalists Bayern Munich & a Napoli outfit gilded with South American attacking firepower in the forms of Edinson Cavani & Ezequial Lavezzi.

Their task has been made somewhat more difficult this term after they were matched with fellow domestic Champions Real, Ajax & Borussia Dortmund. Roberto Mancini may be quietly relieved to get the trip to the Bernabeu out of the way early on in the Group Stages & despite the obvious benefits of topping the group, he will be happy just to progress through to the knockout stages. They head to Spain unbeaten in four Premier League games and on the back of a hard fought 1-1 draw at Stoke.

Jose Mourinho will be smarting after a poor start to his team’s defence of the Primera Liga title (after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Sevilla, Real are already eight points adrift of rivals & league leaders Barcelona in 10^th place, with just four points from four games).  The Portuguese tactician knows Champions League football and Manchester City too well, which contributes to thinking that Mancini’ men may have to write off their opening game of this year’s campaign.

Cristiano Ronaldo is rumoured to unhappy in Madrid but the former Manchester United star loves nothing more than a place the spot light (as seen by his energetic performances for Portugal at Euro 2012). Coral’s 1/1 price for Ronaldo to score at any time on Tuesday could therefore be worth some backing. Mourinho will have noted that City have conceded first in four of their last five matches & as a result Real can be expected to set a fast pace early doors. Madrid can be backed at 13/18 for Half Time/Full Time with Ladbrokes. Another market to possibly consider is the Under 2.5 Goals (5/4 Bet Victor). City may tighten up if they concede, possibly fighting for a point as they did at Liverpool & Stoke or just limiting Real Madrid to 1 or 2 goals.

Should Man City emerge unscathed from Group D, they may have the minerals to mount a serious challenge in this year’s competition. Now may be the time to back them outright, whilst Real are unlikely to get a great deal shorter than their current price.

Outright Champions League betting: Manchester City 10/1, Real Madrid 9/2 (both at bet365).

J.Harper