Manchester City has the Premier League title almost wrapped up and can now take another step towards winning the treble by completing the job in the Champions League semi-finals second leg against Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola’s men are heavy favorites Wednesday night, with bookmaker 10bet having the odds for City to qualify for the final at 1.29. The odds are at 1.62 for the hosts to win outright in full-time. Meanwhile, the odds are at 5.25 for Real to win the game and at 3.60 for the defending champions to progress.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 16th, 5:00 P.M. (EST)
Many saw City as a fading force earlier in the season when the team was very inconsistent with its performances, but Guardiola’s side has looked phenomenal in recent months, winning 11 straight games in the Premier League, while also making things look easy in Europe.
City’s superb end-of-the-season run also includes a 15-game winning streak on home turf. Real is certainly up against it at the Etihad, but they have shown great character and determination in recent Champions League campaigns, and you wouldn’t put it past them to produce another special performance Wednesday.
A comeback effort no doubt requires another big outing from Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior. The duo scored four of Real’s six goals in last year’s semi-final duel against City and Vinicius Junior was also Real’s goalscorer in last week’s 1-1 draw in Madrid.
Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are seen as the biggest stars of the future in world football, but Vini Junior has also made major strides in his game in recent years and will definitely want to be seen as one of the faces of the beautiful game as well. The Champions League is the perfect stage for him to grow his reputation. Not that he hasn’t already been outstanding in the competition.
Dating back to the start of the group stage, the Brazilian ace has failed to register a goal involvement in only one European outing this season. He’s scored seven times in 11 games, adding five assists. Across all competitions, Vinicius Junior is sitting on 23 goals and 21 assists through 52 games.
Vinicius Junior has registered only six fewer goal involvements than Haaland, whose name has been on everybody’s lips this season, and the Real man would no doubt love to outshine the City star in a direct battle in his own backyard.
