Man City vs Real Madrid news: Karim Benzema can take advantage of City injury crisis

One major hurdle though is one giant team called Real Madrid as Pep Guardiola prepares his team for Tuesday's semi-final first-leg.

Guardiola said on Monday that City need 'two exceptional games' and his players will be desperate to impress and go one better after losing 1-0 to Chelsea in their first Champions League final last season.

When: Tuesday 26 April, 20:00 BST

Where: The Etihad Stadium, Manchester

How to watch: BT Sport 2

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Istvan Kovacs will be the man in the middle for this tasty Champions League semi-final first leg in Manchester.

The 37-year-old Romanian has refereed 10 games in the Champions League since 2018/19 and he's no stranger to Pep Guardiola's men either.

In his 10 games in the Champions League, he has shown 48 yellow cards and 1 red card.

Games refereed by Istvan Kovacs in 2021/22: Games (33), yellow cards (169), red cards (8)

With Gabriel Jesus on fire after his four goals against Watford at the weekend and Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling all looking in top form, while Ruben Dias is back in defence, Guardiola's boys have every reason to be upbeat.

The headache of being dumped out of the FA Cup will be long forgotten. Bigger prizes await. Ten goals in their last three games - City are in solid form.

Real are also red-hot. Just a month ago, they were reeling after a 4-0 thumping by Barcelona at the Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti's team have won every game since and are now cruising to the league title thanks largely to Karim Benzema - 39 goals in 40 games in all competitions this season.

Getting ready to face Real