Shock Report Suggests the Real Madrid Fans Are Not Confident Against Manchester City
It will be the fifth consecutive season that Real Madrid take on Manchester City in the Champions League knockout stages. As two of the biggest European clubs, it's a colossus meeting that fans have been tuning in for in the millions.
However, things may be different for Los Blancos fans for this season's meeting. According to journalist Javier Mancebo Santos, he revealed in an article on MARCA that there are still plenty of tickets available for the game at the Bernabeu on March 11.
In the article, it was said that it was not even the expensive tickets that were just available, but ones in lower-tiered brackets. It is a sign that the Madridistas are not confident when it comes to the two-legged tie.
Real Madrid Fans' Confidence Low for Champions League
Rewind to about a year ago, and the two teams met in the Champions League playoff stage. It felt like a 50/50 tie, with neither team in the best of form. Despite the Citizens starting the first leg well, they fell to a 6-3 aggregate defeat.
This time around, neither team are playign excllent football. However, the difference is that Real Madrid have a long injury list, headed by Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman scored four goals across the two games last season and has scored the majority of the club's goals this season.
He is going to be a huge miss for this game. As is Jude Bellingham, who was a big part of the win. Rodrygo and Alvaro Carreras are also out of the first leg, which is a huge blow for head coach Alvaro Arbeloa.
All that combined looks to be the reason why the stadium is not a sell-out 24 hours before the first leg at the Bernabeu. That being said, it may be by the time the game kicks off, but it's usually not the case, even if the cost of living is high.
The club could be on the verge of back-to-back seasons without a major trophy. They scraped past Benfica in the UCL playoff and have lost two of their past three games in La Liga. The confidence is low, and the fans are unhappy. The last game at the Bernabeu saw whistles from the fans after losing 1-0 to Getafe.
If the result does not go their way against Manchester City, expect the same to follow, which may include the famous white hankies making an appearance.
-031bbeb5612ca252e2129722373fa56d.png "Jordan Merritt")
Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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