Manchester City defender Ruben Dias thinks he will be on the winning side and has played down the quality and importance of Kylian Mbappe in the build-up to Tuesday's first leg in

The first leg is at the Etihad Stadium with the second at the Bernabeu next Wednesday, giving La Liga leaders Madrid the edge in a titanic battle worthy of the final in Munich on the last Saturday in May.

Manchester City and Real Madrid are both weakened - but despite a win against Leyton Orient, Guardiola's side are more

Real Madrid faces Manchester City in the Champions League playoff on Tuesday. Here is Los Blancos' predicted starting lineup.

Manchester City star Savinho said that neither his club nor Real Madrid should be in the Champions League playoffs during an interview conducted ahead of their game.

Aurelien Tchouameni, a defensive midfielder by trade, partnered academy graduate Raul Asencio, 21, who only made his Madrid debut in November, at centre-back against Atletico. Fellow academy defenders Joan Martinez and Jacobo Ramon are also out with injury, accelerating Asencio’s ascent into the first team this season.

The last two winners of the Champions League now face an early do-or-die battle. Manchester City and Real Madrid meet in Tuesday’s first-leg clash at the Etihad, both desperate to salvage underwhelming campaigns.

Real Madrid have suffered another injury blow ahead of their Champions League play-off first leg against Manchester City on Tuesday. Real ensured they remained top of La Liga with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.