The defending holders butt heads with the 14-time winners in Tuesday's blockbuster Champions League quarter-final first leg, as Real Madrid and Manchester City battle for supremacy at the Bernabeu.
The two continental heavyweights are reuniting in the UCL knockout rounds for the third season running this year, as Carlo Ancelotti's men dramatically prevailed in the 2021-22 semi-finals before Man City completed their revenge mission en route to last year's crown.
The Citizens' 4-0 second-leg Etihad success in 2022-23 marked the start of a magnificent 10-game winning run in the Champions League, which also saw them ease past Copenhagen in the last 16 with a pair of 3-1 triumphs over the Danish champions.
Meanwhile, Los Blancos' path to the last eight was not so straightforward, but a 2-1 aggregate success over German foes RB Leipzig was enough to set up a tasty reunion with Pep Guardiola's champions.
Here, Sports Mole takes on the arduous task of whittling down both sides' astonishing reserves of talent to an 11-man combined squad, using only players expected to be fit for the match.
Thibaut Courtois - whose performance against Liverpool in the 2022 Champions League final will forever be remembered in footballing folklore - was initially on track to return from his ACL injury in time for the UCL quarters, only for another cruel knee problem to strike as he geared up for his return. While Andriy Lunin has shone in his absence, the Ukraine international was never going to earn our vote over Ederson, now fit again after his own concern and seeking a 13th clean sheet in all competitions in Tuesday's first leg.
Neutrals hoping to witness a gripping one-on-one between Kyle Walker and Vinicius Junior may be left disappointed, as the former has not recovered from his hamstring injury in time to line up at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal can empathise with his English colleague on the fitness front, but he has largely put his physical woes to one side this season to register five goals and four assists in 32 matches, and he pips the promising Rico Lewis to a spot in the XI.
Carvajal's inclusion marks the end of the Real Madrid representation in the rearguard, though, even with Nathan Ake missing the contest through injury too. Manuel Akanji deputised well for Josko Gvardiol at left-back against Crystal Palace on Saturday and already has two UCL goals to his name this season - as well as completing 95.5% of his passes, the third-best tally in the tournament - so the Switzerland man was a routine pick over Ferland Mendy.
Defensive injuries have plagued both managers throughout 2023-24, as Eder Militao and David Alaba have both been laid low by ACL problems, although the former is now back in contention and made his long-awaited return off the bench against Athletic Bilbao last weekend. While the former is one of the best centre-backs in the world on his day, his lack of football this season sees him lose out to Ruben Dias and John Stones, the former of whom boasts a mammoth progressive carrying distance of 2,211 yards in the Champions League, by far and away the highest tally in this season's tournament. Antonio Rudiger was an honourable mention too.
Second to Dias in the progressive carrying distance metric is Rodri, likely to endure a hostile reception at the Bernabeu owing to his Atletico Madrid connections, but the Spain international has done his talking on the pitch all season long. From 40 outings in all tournaments, Rodri has had a direct hand in 20 goals - eight of his own and 12 assists - while also showcasing his formidable defensive work in the number six role, and he was a straightforward call over Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.
Rodri's most recent goal contribution came in the weekend's win over Crystal Palace, laying on the assist for Kevin De Bruyne's 100th goal for Manchester City across all tournaments. The 2023-24 season has been a frustrating one for the Belgian, but his powers have not waned in the slightest, as evidenced by four goals and just 14 assists from 16 matches. Federico Valverde and Bernardo Silva can count themselves unlucky not to join Rodri and De Bruyne in the engine room, but there is some solace knowing that they lost out to another one of the best players on the planet. Thirty-two appearances, 20 goals, 10 assists, Jude Bellingham has already achieved Galactico status in the Spanish capital and now faces one of a few clubs who failed in their efforts to lure him away from the Bernabeu.
While Bellingham opted to don the iconic white jersey, Man City still boast one exciting England prodigy themselves in Phil Foden, who interestingly enters Tuesday's with a marginally better output than his Three Lions colleague of 21 goals and 10 assists, albeit in 12 more matches. Seven of those contributions (four goals and three assists) have come in European competition, where he has only failed to have a direct hand in a goal in one of his six games in 2023-24. As Foden operates on the right flank, Vinicius Junior - back from a La Liga ban and sure to come straight back into the Real XI - bombs down the left, aiming to increase a stellar tally of 18 goals and eight assists from 28 games in 2023-24; Rodrygo and Jeremy Doku must accept spots on the bench in this one.
This time last year, fans and pundits alike had run out of superlatives to describe Erling Haaland after his astonishing five-goal haul against RB Leipzig, but it is fair to say that the Norwegian has made more headlines for a few missed sitters than his goalscoring exploits in 2023-24. Haaland's season has not been an unproductive one by any means, though - his strike against Palace was his 30th of the season in all competitions - and another Premier League and Champions League Golden Boot double is firmly in his sights.
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Ben Knapton
