JUMP TO:
Real Madrid and Manchester City cross swords once again in the UEFA Champions League, this time in the Round of 16.
City have already won at the Santiago Bernabeu this season, coming from behind to win 2-1 during the league phase last December.
Now the teams face their fifth knockout encounter in as many seasons. Madrid have progressed from three of the previous four.
The clubs split semifinal victories in 2022 and 2023, each going on to win the title. Madrid were European champions for a 15th time in 2024 after beating City on penalties in the quarterfinals, while Los Blancos eased to a 6-3 aggregate win in last season’s knockout playoffs.
The Sporting News is following the Real Madrid vs. Manchester City match live, providing score updates and commentary
Real Madrid vs. Man City score
| 1st Half | Goalscorers | |
| Man City | 0 | |
| Real Madrid | 1 | Valverde 20′ |
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Lineups:
Real Madrid (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Thibaut Courtois (GK) — 12. Trent Alexander-Arnold, 24. Dean Huijsen, 22. Antonio Rudiger, 23. Ferland Mendy — 7. Federico Valverde, 14. Aurelien Tchouameni, 45. Thiago Pitarch — 15. Arda Guler, 21. Brahim Diaz, 7. Vinicius Junior
Man City (4-2-3-1, right to left): 25. Gianluigi Donnarumma (GK) — 45. Abdukodir Khusanov, 3. Ruben Dias, 15. Marc Guehi, 33. Nico O’Reilly —21. Bernardo Silva, 16. Rodri — 26. Savinho, 42. Antoine Semenyo, 11. Jeremy Doku— 9. Erling Haaland
MORE: Real Madrid vs. Man City head to head history, all UEFA Champions League matches over the years
Real Madrid vs. Man City live updates, highlights, and commentary
20 mins: GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!! Federico Valverde!!!!!
First blood to Madrid. It’s against the run of play but far too easy from a City point of view. Courtois punts a straight ball to Valverde, who is one-against-one with O’Reilly. The young left-back makes a mess of it, but Guehi is well out of position to leave him isolated. Donnarumma comes out, knows he is at risk of a red card and pulls out of the challenge. Valverde rounds him and slots home.
16 mins: Doku tearing at Alexander-Arnold, who could be in for a long evening. Valverde scampers back to block behind. City take one from the training ground but Doku slips and falls in a heap. Some fun playing surfaces in Madrid this week.
13 mins: Now it’s O’Reilly’s turn to get to the Madrid byline and flash one across goal. Looked like Courtois got his touch on that one. Jeremy Doku sends his sympathies.
9 mins: Rudiger gets on the end of he right-wing delivery but his header is blocked.
8 mins: City cut through Madrid again, with Silva the architect. Doku into the box and to the byline. Again there’s no one there to convert. Back come Madrid and Brahim forces a sharp save from Donnarumma. He looked to be offside but the flag didn’t go up. As a result, in one of these weird VAR era loopholes, Madrid have a corner they ought not to have.
7 mins: Doku drills across the face of goal but there’s no one there to convert. Erling?
6 mins: Loose pass from Alexander-Arnold inside City territory and Haaland can stretch his legs and burst forward. Huijsen dispossesses the striker but Semenyo gets the ball back to Haaland, who is then tackeld by Alexnader-Arnold, atoning for his original error.
3 mins: Doku sashays into space and is into one of his trademark dribbles. The Belgium winger passes up the chance to shoot, though and loses his footing as he is crowded out.
Kickoff: 1st Half
City skipper Bernardo Silva, who has three career goals in this fixture, gets us underway.
3 mins: Here come the teams, out to the Champions League anthem. The cameras linger on Haaland and Vinicius, the latter who is, of course, without superstar teammates Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe tonight.
15 mins before kickoff: The teams will be with us shortly. The roof is closed at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight and the hosts will hope for a big atmosphere to kick off a tie many are tipping City to win. If Guardiola’s attacking lineup get hold of this game, he will know the vibes inside this famous stadium could turn toxic.
30 mins before kickoff: City’s January signings Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo are handed Champions League debuts, as expected, this evening. Both have fitted seamlessly into Pep Guardiola’s plans and have made the squad feel much stronger as a whole as they chase trophies on four fronts. Semenyo has already scored seven times in 13 appearances for City.
Getty Images
1 hour before kickoff: It’s a very attacking Manchester City lineup. Although, in what some might consider a red flag, it’s Pep Guardiola departing from what he’s been dong recently for a big Champions League away game. Matheus Nunes and Rayan Ait-Nouri have provided most of City’s width from full-back of late, however Savinho and Jeremy Doku’s impressive performances in the FA Cup win at Newcastle have persuaded him to adopt a more conventional approach in that regard. In turn, it allows Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico O’Reilly to theoretically be more robust presences at full-back.
Our side to face Real Madrid 🩵
XI | Donnarumma, Khusanov, Dias, Guéhi, O’Reilly, Rodri, Bernardo (C), Savinho, Semenyo, Doku, Haaland
SUBS | Trafford, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Cherki, Nico, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Foden, Alleyne pic.twitter.com/VRQuIVM4nc
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 11, 2026
1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: Alvaro Arbeloa has pulled a Carlo Ancelotti and gone a little early with his Madrid lineup. Thiago Pitarch gets a start in the injury-hit Madrid midfield, while Ferland Mendy makes only his thirds start of the season and second in five days at left-back. Dean Huijsen is back at centre-back in place of Raul Asencio, having missed domestic action through a combination of injury and suspension of late. It looks like Brahim Diaz will operate as a false nine against his former club.
📋✅ ¡Nuestro XI inicial!
🆚 @ManCityES pic.twitter.com/gnHgywq11X— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) March 11, 2026
1 hr 40 mins before kickoff: Even though this tie won’t be decided until next week, Madrid or City have the chance to strike out ahead of one another historically tonight. Their head-to-head over 15 Champions League encounters to date reads five wins apiece and five draws. It could barely be tighter in terms of goals scored, either, with City on 26 to Madrid’s 26.
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Real Madrid vs. Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. These two again? Ah, go on then.
Real Madrid vs. Man City kick off time
The Champions League match kicks off in Madrid at 9 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Wed, Mar. 11 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| Canada | Wed, Mar. 11 | 3:00 p.m. ET |
| UK | Wed, Mar. 11 | 8:00 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Thu, Mar. 12 | 7:00 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Thu, Mar. 12 | 1:30 a.m. IST |
Real Madrid vs. Man City lineups, team news
Real Madrid Team News
- Alvaro Arbeloa is without several big hitters for this first leg clash tonight with Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham missing out with injury.
- Rodrygo is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury while Eder Militao, Alvaro Carreras and Dani Ceballos are also on the sidelines.
- Eduardo Camavinga and David Alaba could return after their own niggles.
Man City Team News
- Things are far rosier on the injury front for Pep Guardiola with Croatian duo Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic his only absentees.
- Having rested several first-choice players for the win at Newcastle, the likes of Erling Haaland and Rodri are set to start here.
- Omar Marmoush may retain his place after bagging an FA Cup brace against the Magpies.
Real Madrid vs. Man City live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | — | Paramount+ |
| Canada | — | DAZN, Fubo |
| UK | TNT Sports 1 | discovery+ |
| Australia | — | Stan Sport |
| India | — | Sony LIV, JioTV |