Gary Neville disagreed with Wayne Rooney's prediction that Manchester City will 'blow Real Madrid away', but the Sky Sports pundit backed the Blues to progress.
City continue their hunt for an illustrious treble when they face Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final this evening. The Blues have won 15 of their last 16 games across all competitions, but face a return to the scene of last season's exit at this very stage.
Pep Guardiola's side were 5-3 up on aggregate as the second leg went into the 90th minute, but two goals from Rodrygo sent the tie into extra-time and Karim Benzema's penalty handed Los Blancos a shock place in the final and dumped City out despite their dominance.
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Much of City's problems that evening came from not being able to increase their lead when in the ascendancy, but that hasn't been a problem since the arrival of Erling Haaland. The Norwegian has an incredible 51 goals already this season, with Rooney insistent that his presence will help City blow Madrid away.
The former striker wrote in his column for the Times: "Manchester City will not just beat Real Madrid, they'll blow them away!"
But while Neville does believe the Blues will make it to the final, he thinks it'll be a much tighter affair. Quoting Rooney's prediction, he tweeted: "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!"
City will be without Nathan Ake for the first leg, with the Dutchman not pictured in training and not included in Guardiola's travelling squad.
Madrid will be without Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy through suspension and injury respectively, but have been boosted by the return of Luka Modric.
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