A victory of any kind will secure Manchester City's spot in the Champions League semi-finals when they take on Real Madrid in the quarter-final second leg tonight.

A thriller in Madrid last week saw City head back to Manchester with the tie all square, with great goals from Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol helping City earn a 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu. All City need to do is beat Real Madrid tonight to book their place in the semi-final, but it's easier said than done.

Pep Guardiola's side haven't lost at home in the Champions League since suffering a 3-1 loss to Lyon back in 2020, with the last meeting between City and Real at the Etihad ending in an emphatic 4-0 win for the hosts. City enter the clash in high spirits after a perfect weekend in the Premier League, with Guardiola's side beating Luton Town 5-1 to go top of the league before Liverpool and Arsenal were both beaten.

So, can City book their spot in the Champions League semi-finals? Let's take a look.

We simulated Man City vs Real Madrid to get a score prediction

To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 24 and updated both squads with the latest injuries and suspensions. We predict that City could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Grealish.

We predict that Los Blancos could set up in a 4-3-1-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Camavinga, Kroos; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr.

After a tense opening 20 minutes that saw both sides create some big chances, it was Real Madrid who took the lead when Antonio Rudiger headed home from a corner. City responded well as they piled on the pressure, and just before half-time they managed to level the scores with Rodri tapping in at the back post after De Bruyne's free-kick was flicked on by John Stones.

A period of dominance after the restart saw Madrid take control at the Etihad, and in the 62nd minute they regained the lead after Jude Bellingham skipped past Ruben Dias before finding the far corner of the net from inside the box. It was far from an ideal situation for Guardiola's side, but they responded well once again, making it 2-2 minutes later.

A bit of fortune fell City's way when De Bruyne's pass was deflected to the feet of Erling Haaland, allowing the striker to surge towards goal with De Bruyne in support. The striker opted to lay the ball into the path of his teammate, and De Bruyne made no mistake with his strike, finding the bottom corner to equalise.

After levelling the score, momentum was on City's side as the visitors started to fatigue. Haaland missed two big chances to put City ahead, but it didn't prove costly as De Bruyne grabbed his second of the evening in the 84th minute to put his side in the lead.

Some nice passing play in the middle saw City drag the Madrid midfield about, and a lovely through ball from Rodri found the run of De Bruyne who made his way towards goal untracked. The Belgian took his shot early as defensive cover rushed towards him, and his strike dipped over the 'keeper and into the net to make it 3-2 with minutes to go.

Real threw everything at City in the final moments of the game, but the hosts held on to book their spot in the penultimate round of the Champions League.