Real Madrid vs Man City: Confirmed starting line-ups in Champions League

Real Madrid can ensure they remain in the automatic qualification places for the last 16 of the Champions League by beating Manchester City at home on Wednesday.

Blancos manager Xabi Alonso is under pressure after a run of one win in five Liga matches, although four Kylian Mbappe goals gave the 15-time European champions a 4-3 comeback win at Olympiacos on Matchweek 5 of their European campaign.

City are second in the Premier League after three straight domestic wins but the 2022/23 Champions League winners are two points off the spots guaranteeing direct advancement to the round of 16 following their surprise 2-0 defeat at home to Leverkusen on November 25.

101GreatGoals.com has full team news from Real Madrid vs Man City. You can also follow live text updates here.

Recommended offer

Review

Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets

Get Offer

#AD 18+ Registration Required. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. GambleAware.org Time limits and T&Cs apply. T&Cs apply.

Real Madrid starting lineup vs Manchester City

Los Blancos have a strong bench to welcome City tonight. Kylian Mbappe makes the squad, but is not ready to start for Xabi Alonso’s side.

Jude Bellingham, however, is leading the team in midfield, with a rare start for Rodrygo as well.

Real Madrid starting XI: Courtois, Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras, Tchouameni, Ceballos, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Gonzalo, Vinicius Junior

Madrid substitutes: Lunin, Gonzalez, Endrick, Mbappe, Guler, Garcia, Brahim, Cestero, Mastantouno, Martinez, Valdepenas

Man City starting lineup vs Madrid

Pep Guardiola has continued with a similar core to the team that beat Sunderland at the weekend.

Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki both get the nod, and Nico O’Reilly continues at left-back. Rodri has still not returned.

Manchester City starting XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo, Foden, Cherki, Doku, Haaland

Man City substitutes: Trafford, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Ake, Marmoush, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Bobb, Lewis

How to watch Madrid vs Man City: Live online stream, TV channel

Kick-off on Wednesday is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on TNT Sports 1 and the Discovery Plus app.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through discovery+, which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City stats

• Madrid have five wins to City’s four in the 14 editions of the fixture
• The clubs have met in each of the last four seasons in the knockout stage, including victory for Madrid in last season’s knockout phase play-offs via a 3-2 first-leg triumph in Manchester and 3-1 home win
• The Merengues have won 13 of their last 14 Champions League group stage and league phase matches at home (L1)
• At 23 years and 30 days of age, Eduardo Camavinga could become the second-youngest French player to reach 50 appearances in the Champions League proper after teammate Kylian Mbappe (22 years and 339 days
• Mbappe has achieved his best-ever tally in a Champions League campaign with nine goals and has seven in seven appearances against Man City, including a hat-trick in that Madrid home win in 2024/25
• City have won six of their last seven group stage and league phase matches against Spanish opposition (L1), including the last four
• Erling Haaland has nine goals in his nine appearances against Spanish teams in the Champions League proper and has struck on his last five starts in the competition proper, netting seven goals in total
• The Cityzens had the highest passing accuracy (92.4%) in this season’s competition before Wednesday’s matches, immediately ahead of Paris Saint-Germain (91.4%)
• Only PSG (62.4%) averaged more possession than City (61%) during the first five matchweeks
• Liverpool (362) are the only team to have embarked on more attacks than City (349) during the 2025/26 league phase, although the Reds have played one more game

Champions League fixtures today

Arsenal will move three points clear at the top of the table with two matches remaining if they win in Brugge, while Newcastle visit Leverkusen in the other match involving a Premier League team.

Here are the later fixtures in the Champions League today, all starting at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT.

Wednesday, December 10

Athletic Club vs PSG

Bayer Leverkusen vs Newcastle

Benfica vs Napoli

Borussia Dortmund vs Bodo/Glimt

Club Brugge vs Arsenal

Juventus vs Pafos

Real Madrid vs Man City

Real Madrid Champions League fixtures, results 2025/26

All fixtures start at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT.

Tuesday, September 16: Madrid 2-1 Marseille

Tuesday, September 30: Kairat 0-5 Madrid

Wednesday, October 22: Madrid 1-0 Juventus

Tuesday, November 4: Liverpool 1-0 Madrid

Wednesday, November 26: Olympiacos 3-4 Madrid

Wednesday, December 10: Madrid vs Man City

Tuesday, January 20: Madrid vs Monaco

Wednesday January 28: Benfica vs Madrid

Real Madrid Champions League squad 2025/26

Madrid’s List A Champions League squad has been registered until the round of 16 in February 2026, when clubs can register a maximum of three new players within the existing limit of 25.

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin

Defenders: Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Raul Asencio, Alvaro Carreras, Fran Garcia, Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy, Dean Huijsen

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Arda Guler, Dani Ceballos

Forwards: Vinícius Junior, Endrick, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo, Gonzalo, Brahim Diaz, Franco Mastantuono

List B submissions, comprised of players born after January 1, 2004 who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since their 15th birthday, can also be made until midnight before each match.

Goalkeepers Fran Gonzalez and Javier Navarro, defenders Victor Valdepenas, Diego Aguado, Jesus Fortea, David Jimanez and Joan Martinez, midfielders Jorge Cestero, Pol Fortuny, Manuel Angel, Cesar Palacios, Cristian Perea, Hugo De Llanos and Thiago Pitarch and forward Daniel Yanez are initially on List B.

Man City Champions League fixtures, results 2025/26

All fixtures start at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT unless otherwise stated.

Thursday, September 18: Man City 2-0 Napoli

Wednesday, October 1: Monaco 2-2 Man City

Tuesday, October 21: Villarreal 0-2 Man City

Wednesday, November 5: Man City 4-1 Dortmund

Tuesday November 25: Man City 0-2 Leverkusen

Wednesday, December 10: Real Madrid vs Man City

Tuesday, January 20: Bodo/Glimt vs Man City (17:45)

Wednesday January 28: Man City vs Galatasaray

Man City Champions League squad 2025/26

City’s List A Champions League squad has been registered until the round of 16 in February 2026, when clubs can register a maximum of three new players within the existing limit of 25.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, James Trafford, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Marcus Bettinelli

Defenders: Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Abdukodir Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake, Rayan Ait-Nouri

Midfielders: Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Nico, Tijjani Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki

Forwards: Savinho, Jeremy Doku, Oscar Bobb, Omar Marmoush, Erling Haaland

List B submissions, comprised of players born after January 1, 2004 who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since their 15th birthday, can also be made until midnight before each match.

Defender Rico Lewis and left-back or midfielder Nico O’Reilly are initially on List B.

Champions League schedule 2025/26

After the league phase, the play-offs are held in February, with the rest of the knockout stage before the final held between March and early May.

Matchday 1: September 16-18 2025

Matchday 2: September 30 – October 1 2025

Matchday 3: October 21/22 2025

Matchday 4: November 4/5 2025

Matchday 5: November 25/26 2025

Matchday 6: December 9/10 2025

Matchday 7: January 20/21 2026

Matchday 8: January 28 2026

When is the Champions League knockout phase?

Knockout phase play-offs: February 17/18 & 24/25 2026

Round of 16: March 10/11 & 17/18 2026

Quarter-finals: April 7/8 & 14/15 2026

Semi-finals: April 28/29 and May 5/6 2026

Final: May 30 2026 (Budapest)

When are the Champions League draws?

Knockout phase play-offs: January 30 2026

Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final: February 27 2026

Champions League 2025/26 format

In a change from the previous group stage format conducted until 2023/24, each team now plays eight matches in the league phase, all against different opponents.

Four of those matches will be at home and four away, with the opponents determined according to four seeding pots split by rankings.

Teams will play two opponents from each of those pots – one against a team from each pot at home and one away. The results decide the overall standings in one league.

The top eight sides in the table qualify automatically for the round of 16. The teams finishing in ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to reach the last 16.

Teams finishing 25th or lower are out of Europe for the season.

When is the Champions League final?

The final will take place on May 30 2026 at the The Puskas Arena in Budapest, which opened in 2019 and is home to Hungary’s national team.

The arena hosted a dramatic 2022/23 Europa League final, when Sevilla beat Roma on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

How to watch the Champions League: TV channel, live stream

TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video have the live broadcast rights to the Champions League in the UK.

Amazon have first pick of the Tuesday games, with all the other matches shown on TNT Sports. BBC Sport also has highlights rights.

A Prime Video membership is £8.99 per month or £95 per year paid annually, with a half-price offer for fans aged between 18 and 22.

Membership includes unlimited delivery on a huge selection of Amazon items and a range of other perks such as movies, series, documentaries and photo storage.