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Champions League Staff Picks: Manchester City vs. Real Madrid

Juan Medina / Reuters

theScore's footy editors peer into their crystal balls and make predictions for Tuesday's match between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Carlo Campo, Daniel Rouse, and Gianluca Nesci tell you what they think will happen on the pitch, and why.

Related: Ranking the 10 best players left in the Champions League

Campo: For all its dominance in the Champions League, Real Madrid is a club that consistently gives its opponent a chance at victory. AS Roma could have knocked out Los Blancos in the competition's Round 16 had its finishing not been as atrocious as it was wasteful. VfL Wolfsburg could have knocked out Zinedine Zidane's side in the quarter-finals had Bruno Henrique and Dante not squandered a pair of wonderful opportunities.

Simply put, Real Madrid concedes chances, and its generosity at the back is set to be exploited by Manchester City, which will not be uneconomical if Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, and David Silva have anything to say about it.

If there was ever a Champions League tie in which both clubs were destined to score, this is it. There's so much firepower between Real Madrid and City that Keylor Navas and Joe Hart must feel as though they're about to stand in front of a firing squad. However, through the competition's knockout phase, Los Blancos have consistently been unable to avoid paying the ultimate price by virtue of scoring more than enough goals to advance on aggregate.

Against City, Real Madrid won't be so lucky ...

Prediction: Manchester City wins 3-2 on aggregate

Rouse: Vincent Kompany has been sidelined with repeated calf issues; if Nicolas Otamendi isn't sleepwalking he's launching himself into reckless tackles and giving up dangerous free-kicks; Eliaquim Mangala's contributions are often of as much use as a third eyebrow; the less said about Martin Demichelis the better. That makes for a significant Achilles' heel for City, and Real Madrid has booted in 18 goals in its last five outings.

Cristiano Ronaldo in particular will find these defensive inadequacies plenty of fun. If he's allowed to drift to that familiar spot on the left, he could send whichever aged right-back is selected - Bacary Sagna or Pablo Zabaleta - scrambling.

One blessing in disguise for City is the absence of Yaya Toure, who has been pivotal to the club's rise since his 2010 signing from Barcelona, but his languid wanderings have been increasingly damaging over the past few seasons.

Another positive has been the return of Kevin De Bruyne, the Belgian instantly returning to his hard-working and visionary best, but despite inevitably impressing on this huge stage against a breakable backline, he surely can't drag City over the line again.

Prediction: Real Madrid wins 5-3 on aggregate

Nesci: Tuesday's contest at the Etihad - and the tie as a whole - promises to be an exciting battle of two clubs boasting attacking star power in spades, but hindered by defensive deficiencies. Cristiano Ronaldo, who will almost certainly take the pitch despite concerns over a thigh ailment, and Sergio Aguero are the emblems for their respective sides, banging in the goals with frightening frequency while the likes of Pepe and Eliaquim Mangala try their best to undo that good work with defensive miscues.

On the surface, it's a meeting of two eerily similar sides.

In truth, however, the matchup offers an intriguing tactical conundrum that will go a long way in determining if Real Madrid will get a shot at claiming an 11th Champions League crown, or if the Citizens will make the trek to the finals for the first time in club history.

City, with the likes of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, excels at unlocking the opposition with methodical build-up play. Own the ball. Cherish the ball. Manuel Pellegrini has preached nothing less during his time in Manchester.

"We need to dominate possession," Silva told BT Sport, according to Marca, when discussing his side's best path to topping Los Blancos. "We like having the ball and if we maintain possession we're dangerous."

That's true. But therein lies the issue.

Madrid, even with Ronaldo morphing into more of a classic central striker at this advanced stage of his career, is most terrifying when the Portuguese and fellow stud Gareth Bale are blistering forward on the counter. Would City consider straying from its preferred style in an effort to neutralize the Spanish club's most dangerous attacking weapon? I fear not, and that will ultimately be the difference in the tie.

Prediction: Real Madrid wins 4-3 on aggregate

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