Wayne Rooney believes Manchester City will 'blow away' Real Madrid in the Champions League... but Gary Neville isn't so sure.
City face holders Real in the semi-finals of this season's tournament, with the first leg taking place at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night. Pep Guardiola's side go into the European clash in tremendous form after winning 10 consecutive Premier League games.
Real, meanwhile, have slipped to third in LaLiga after losing two of their previous three league outings. Despite their contrasting form, Neville believes the semi-final tie will be a lot closer than Rooney thinks, particularly Tuesday night's game in the Spanish capital.
Writing in his column for The Times, Rooney claimed: "Manchester City will not just beat Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final - they’ll blow them away.
"Of course, I may be wrong. There is no side better at disproving arguments against them than Carlo Ancelotti's Madrid in the Champions League. But I just think City are so good that they’re on another level."
Neville spotted Rooney's prediction on Twitter and was happy to share his opinion. The former Manchester United captain wrote: "Not sure I agree they will blow them away in Madrid but think they could at the Etihad. I think City will win over the two legs!"
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City are the favourites to win this season's Champions League thanks to their superb form. They are top of the Premier League table, one point clear of Arsenal in second with a game in hand, and need to win just three of their last four games to defend their crown.
They have also reached the FA Cup final at Wembley, where they will face Man Utd on June 3. If City can get the better of Real, they will face either AC Milan or Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul on June 10. There's a chance Guardiola's side will complete a treble.
As for Real, the reigning European champions have struggled to convince this season. They are 14 points behind Barcelona in the LaLiga title race with just five games remaining.
Yet Real's European pedigree is unrivalled, with 14 European Cups to their name. Ancelotti's side have also already knocked out two English teams this season in Liverpool and Chelsea, and they got the better of City in last year's semi-final.
Guardiola is confident City will win the Champions League one day but isn't getting carried away. He told reporters: "We're not here for revenge, we're here for an opportunity. What happened, happened in the past. It would be a huge mistake to think about that."
Guardiola added: "One day we will get it. We will get to the final and we will win it. We come here this season to do it... To win this competition you have to beat the best teams and Madrid is the best team in this competition in the past decade."
