Manchester City hold a 4-3 aggregate lead over Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final after a thrilling first leg at the Etihad last week.
Pep Guardiola revealed that Kyle Walker will travel with the squad to the Spanish capital, whilst John Stones, who came off injured in the first leg, will not be fit enough to make the matchday squad. Joao Cancelo who missed the first leg due to suspension is expected to return to the City starting line-up for the crucial tie at Santiago Bernabeu.
David Alaba will be absent for the hosts with Spanish defender Nacho set to deputise alongside Eder Militao at the back for Madrid, with manager Carlo Ancelotti suggesting his side will not be negative against Guardiola 's side. After Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva failed to feature in City's 4-0 win over Leeds at the weekend, both are certain to start alongside Rodri in midfield on Wednesday night.
READ MORE: Kevin De Bruyne describes Phil Foden's route from nervous Man City kid to Real Madrid tormentor
So, what line-ups will both teams select and what could the final score be? We used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for Real Madrid against City on Wednesday and this is what happened. We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22, but didn't select a team to control, we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a score prediction.
Real Madrid vs Man City score predicted by simulation
We predict that Man City could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva; Mahrez, Jesus, Foden.
We predict that Real Madrid could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Mendy; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
City started the game slowly and were put under pressure from Real Madrid in the first 20 minutes of the game. Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema caused problems at the back for Laporte and Dias, as Walker had to rely on his recovery pace to stop Vinicius from opening the scoring after Modric played the Brazilian clean through on goal.
Ederson was called into action on a number of occasions, thwarting Toni Kroos' long-distance effort before denying Fede Valverde a glorious chance at the back post, keeping the scores level heading towards half-time. City soon found a foothold in the game in the final 15 minutes of the first half leading to Riyad Mahrez opening the scoring for the visitors making it 1-0 on the stroke of half-time.
De Bruyne started the move with a strong run from midfield before firing the ball into Silva who had found himself wide on the right. Mahrez had tucked in on the edge of the penalty box and picked the ball up from Silva, breezed past Kroos and Nacho before drilling the ball hard and low under Militao's outstretched leg and past Courtois into the bottom corner to give Guardiola's side breathing space in the tie.
Madrid continued to pile on the pressure in the second half as Benzema struck the crossbar in the 64th minute, with Ancelotti's side looking for a way back into the game. City's Brazilian shot-stopper was called into action once again as Casemiro thought he had equalised, only to see Ederson tip the ball wide of the near post and behind for a Madrid corner.
Substitute Raheem Sterling almost sealed City's place in the final but his looping shot deflected off Nacho and hit the woodwork with minutes left to play, as Guardiola's side narrowly edged out Madrid. City's performance was far from convincing but the result would see them book their place in the Champions League final for a second successive season.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Real Madrid 0-1 Man City (agg. 3-5)
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that City have the quality and experience needed to progress to the Champions League final after Riyad Mahrez's goal was enough for Guardiola's side to beat Real Madrid in this simulation. City could struggle to impose themselves on the game as Madrid threaten through Benzema and Vinicius Junior, but City should hold on, as their hunt for a first Champions League title continues.
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