The next eight days will see Manchester City play Real Madrid in a two-game semifinal of the Champions League, providing fans of football with a mouthwatering matchup.

Pep Guardiola will be attempting to reach just his second final as City's manager, but in order to do so, he must defeat a team who eliminated him at the same point last year.

The Los Blancos late comeback won't happen again this season, which is something the Premier League's defending champions will be hoping for.

They enter the match having had a fantastic league run, but history has shown that Madrid always has a surprise in store for them when it comes to Europe's top competition.

Stocked with Erling Haaland and a near impossible-to-beat formation of 3-2-4-1, Guardiola will fancy his chances in the Spanish capital and in Manchester.

As MEN reports, his latest game against Leeds United might have provided subtle indications of who will start on Tuesday night.

City survived a late scare from Sam Allardyce's men to take another step to winning a fifth league title in six years.

Haaland surprisingly lasted the entire duration of the game alongside Julian Alvarez. Kevin De Bruyne was also given a full 90 minutes after missing the last two games through injury. Haaland and De Bruyne are sure starters on May 9.

City's lineup vs Real Madrid

Jack Grealish, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Rodri were also given rest, but the Spanish holding midfielder came in the latter stages as Leeds threatened to cause an upset. The quartet is also in line to start from the word go against the record Champions League winners.

First-choice goalkeeper Ederson is among the starting eleven despite giving way in midweek.

Nathan Ake's resurgence this season could have seen him become a sure starter, but the Dutch centre-half picked up an injury on Saturday. His involvement remains in doubt, paving way for Kyle Walker.

Vinicius Junior plan

Last season, Walker managed to keep Vinicius Junior silent, with the Brazilian only finding space after Walker went off injured. Manuel Akanji similarly did well against the pacy Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry and could be called upon to deal with Vinicius.

Bernardo Silva was also rested, and he could play either in the right wing or alongside De Bruyne should Guardiola choose to drop Gundogan. The Spanish manager wasn't too impressed that his captain missed a penalty against Leeds and clearly ignored him after he took him off, per Sky Sports.

Should Gundogan be dropped, that will open a chance for Riyad Mahrez to slot in.