Rio Ferdinand names favourites in Man City vs Real Madrid Champions League clash

Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester City are the favourites heading into this evening's huge Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.

City host the 14-time European Cup winners at the Etihad Stadium with a place in the Istanbul final next month up for grabs. The victors of this evening's clash will take on Inter Milan after the Nerazzurri beat cross-city rivals AC Milan in the other semi-final.

The encounter is on a knife edge and all square after the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this month. Vinicius Jr put Real ahead in the first half of that encounter, but Kevin De Bruyne equalised for Pep Guardiola's men.

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City are chasing a place in the Champions League final for the second time in their history as they seek their maiden European Cup. As part of it, they are also aiming to seal the treble, including the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

And Manchester United legend Ferdinand, who won the Champions League in 2008 with the Old Trafford club, is expecting big things when the two sides meet. He explained why he has Guardiola's side as favourites ahead of Carlo Ancelotti's team.

Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: "I'm expecting a tactical masterclass. I don't know who is going to give us the best version of themselves, but the way that these two teams went at it last time from a tactical perspective was so intriuging to see the two teams different in a lot of things they do, but the end product from both teams is always there to see.

"You've got killers, individual killers on the Real Madrid team, and you've got a team that just functions so well when playing well and a well oiled machine in