STAR PREVIEW: Man City v Real Madrid

Etihad looks more like Eti-hard tonight as Man City host Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final (7.45pm BT SPORT).

City are already in unchartered waters in terms of their progress in this tournament and come up against a Real Madrid side who are now unbeaten in their last six matches against English sides.

Star have a couple of specials on the match tonight:

100/30 REAL MADRID TO WIN and BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE

and

8/1 RONALDO and AGEUERO BOTH TO SCORE

The two sides met previously in the Group stage of the 2012 tournament when Real Madrid ran out 4-3 winners.

City will be without the services of Yaya Toure tonight through a thigh injury but their captain Vincent Kompany is “100% fit” (his words) after a series of calf injuries.

The City captain said: “I want this for myself – and at this level all players want this for themselves. You have to play against those players as many times as we can and try and beat those teams. That’s what’s going to make history for this club. For every single player in the team, if you’re not hungry tomorrow, then you’ll never be hungry in football.”

For Real Madrid, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo are both expected to return after their recent injuries.

Possession stats can bankrupt punters but it’s interesting to note that City are the only team left who have averaged less than 50%.

Real Madrid are in better form domestically than City. They are currently involved in a titanic three-way battle for the La Liga title with just one point splitting them from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

I normally want to be on the low side of goals at this stage of the Champions League but tonight I’m not sure. Real Madrid are scoring goals for fun with 18 goals from their last five games including a 3-0 defeat of Wolfsburg in the quarter finals.

City should also find the back of the net.

Man City v Real Madrid
UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
19:45 BT Sport Europe / BT Sport Europe HD / BT Sport Ultra HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
Nov 2012 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Man City 1 – 1 Real Madrid
Sep 2012 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Real Madrid 3 – 2 Man City

I’m going to get greedy tonight with three bets. Goals are very much the common denominator !!

4/6 Both teams to score
2/1 Over 3.5 match goals
100/30 The Star Special Real Madrid to win and both teams to score

(Latest Star prices at 4pm)

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)

BACK BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE for 16 points at 4/6 with Star Sports

BACK OVER 3.5 MATCH GOALS for 10 points at 2/1 with Star Sports

BACK ‘STAR SPECIAL’ REAL MADRID TO WIN & BTTS for 8 points at 100/30 with Star Sports

Monday: LOSS 20 points

What’s your view? CALL STAR SPORTS 08000 521 321