Real Madrid vs Manchester City – Top Fantasy Picks On BalleBaazi: Champions League Second Leg 2021-22

Real Madrid take on Man City in a highly anticipated second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. There’s all to play for with the first leg ending 4-3 at the Etihad as Ancelotti’s men look to overturn the deficit much like the pervading story of their Champions League campaign this season.

Here’s a look at the player selections for the tie that you can pick on the BalleBaazi app.

Goalkeepers

It’s a tough contest between Thibaut Courtois and Ederson for this match at least. Man City will be looking to keep a clean sheet, however, given Pep Guardiola’s attacking mindset, and Real needing to score to win, there could be goals conceded by both teams. So it’s pretty much a stalemate between Courtois and Ederson.

Thibaut Courtois – 8.5

Courtois in the Real Madrid goal has conceded goals in all the knockout rounds but scored 68 points in the first leg against PSG, scoring 32 for shot saves and 20 for saving a penalty. But, in the second leg against PSG the Belgian scored only 14 points.

While against Chelsea in both legs, Courtois scored 32 and 37 points each, and in the first leg against City the Belgian shotstopper scored only 15 points conceding for 4 goals.

But considering Courtois has been the busier in goal in the first leg and City’s high pressing and attacking strategy, our recommendation slightly points to selecting Courtois because he could need to save more shots.

Ederson – 8.5

Ederson on the other hand, scored 34 and 29 points against Sporting in each leg, and 27 and 38 against Atletico, and only 17 against Real in the first leg.

A clean sheet is highly unlikely for both teams, so, it’s a tough call between Courtois and Ederson when it comes to the data, however, with City leading the tie by one goal they will be looking to shut out Real.

Defenders

Coming to our picks for defenders, Pep Guardiola usually rotates his back line so there’s no definite answer to who he will pick for this second leg, especially when it comes to wing backs. John Stones and Kyle Walker remain doubtful to start because of injuries.

So when it comes to picking defenders from Man City, Aymeric Laporte and Oleksander Zinchenko seem like the best bets.

Oleksander Zinchenko – 8

Zinchenko is especially a good pick because of what he offers in attack. The Ukrainian left-back has scored 50 and 45 points against Sporting; he didn’t play against Atletico but scored 49 against Real Madrid in the first leg providing 1 assist. So Zinchenko is a valuable option to pick for the second leg.

Aymeric Laporte – 9

Laporte on the other hand has been consistently scoring points in the knockout ties in the Champions League so far. The Spanish defender has notched up 46 and 42 points against Sporting, and 54 and 50 points against Atletico while against Real in the first leg he scored 33. With John Stones’ injury woes, Laporte is likely to start for City and is a safe bet for your defensive picks.

Ferland Mendy – 9

Real defenders have been under the cosh in all their knockout games, and David Alaba is a doubt for the second leg. So Ferland Mendy seems like the ideal pick from Real judging by current form. Although he scored low in the ties against PSG and Chelsea, the Frenchman made 2 assists against Man City in the first leg scoring 53 points, so the full back is a good pick and is in great form.

Dani Carvajal – 9

The other pick if you’re looking for consistency is Dani Carvajal. The Spaniard has scored 35 in the first leg against PSG and 33 and 37 against Chelsea and 33 against Man City, so from a consistent standpoint Carvajal is a good pick, however, he’s susceptible to getting yellow cards, because of his brash tackling, but that could be offset by his probability of getting an assist going forward.

Midfielders

Kevin De Bruyne- 9.5

Midfielders that you can pick for this game start with perhaps fairly common choices. For City, Kevin De Bruyne is the most obvious pick. All City’s turnovers & transitions and attacks begin with De Bruyne at the heart of them.

The Belgian has has provided assists against Sporting & Real Madrid and scored goals against both Atletico and Real in the knockouts rounds. His performance in the first leg of scoring 1 goal and assisting once assert why he’s a valuable pick.

Luka Modric – 9

While for Real, Luka Modric is the ideal pick in midfield, because, just like De Bruyne for City, most of Real’s forward play involves Modric. The Croatian midfielder has started every knockout game for Real, and has scored 38 and 83 points against PSG, and 33 and 74 against Chelsea racking up 3 assists totally.

It makes more sense to pick Modric over Toni Kroos when it comes to Real because Kroos plays slightly deeper in the midfield three under Ancelotti, while Modric is more advanced, so attack-wise Modric is the better choice.

Bernardo Silva – 9

However, another pick that you perhaps might want to explore is selecting City’s Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese schemer has scored 3 goals and made 1 assist and has 3 shots on target, the latter of which he usually registers in most games.

He has scored 109 points against Sporting in the first leg, 45 points against Atletico in the home leg, and 77 against Real Madrid in the first leg at the Etihad, making him an interesting choice to pick.

Forwards

Karim Benzema – 10.5

Delving into picking forwards. The choice is obvious. Karim Benzema is the focal point of Real’s attack and has amassed the most points out of all Real Madrid’s players in the knockout rounds. So it’s really a no-brainer here.

So when we’re recommending forwards, Benzema is the obvious choice ahead of Gabriel Jesus of City and Vinicius Jr of Real. If Real Madrid are to progress to the final, their talisman Benzema will need to put in another stellar performance and the way he’s been playing this season, it’s very likely to happen.

Captain & Vice-Captain

For selecting your captain and vice captain, Benzema as captain is the ideal choice and the most likely to get you points. He’s been in hot form this season in the Champions League.

The Frenchman has been racking up massive points as captain and notched up 126 points against Chelsea in the second leg and 164 points as captain in the first leg against City and it looks like he will be pivotal in the return leg as well.

As vice-captain, De Bruyne is the perfect pick so it balances both City and Real in your picks, and the Belgian midfielder could provide a goal or assist tonight. You could also pick them vice versa, if you’re more inclined to select De Bruyne as your captain.

Play Now On BalleBaazi

It promises to be an action-packed semi-final tie with Man City only leading by one goal against Real but it’s certain that the atmosphere inside the Bernabeu will be hostile for the visitors.

It’s poised to be a very intriguing and exciting second leg with both teams looking to progress to the Champions League final and could go either way.

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