Manchester City v Real Madrid Champions League match preview

What you need to know before Tuesday night's Manchester City-Real Madrid first leg Champions League match.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Marcelo during training. Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

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How they got here

Manchester City: The English club topped a group featuring Juventus and Sevilla, with four wins and two defeats from their six Group D games. Away wins at Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach were backed up with a 3-1 win away in Kiev and a 0-0 draw at Etihad Stadium in the last 16 to advance to a quarter-final showdown with Paris Saint-Germain. City's impressive road form saw them secure a 2-2 draw in Paris before beating the French champions 1-0 at home.

Real Madrid: Real Madrid went unbeaten in Group A, finishing with five wins and a draw to finish top with 16 points ahead of second-placed Paris Saint-Germain. Identical 2-0 results saw them progress from the round of 16 at Roma's expense before they were given a scare in the quarter-final first leg, losing 2-0 at Wolfsburg. A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick in the return leg at the Bernabeu saw Madrid progress to the semi-finals for a sixth successive season.

Key players

Manchester City: Kevin de Bruyne's absence due to injury earlier this year coincided with City's stuttering domestic form. And while they coped without the Belgian playmaker admirably in Europe, his scored in both quarter-final legs against PSG to ensure City reached the semi-finals of this competition for the first time in their history.

Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo has already scored a remarkable 16 goals in 10 Champions League games this season and is the tournament's record scorer with 94. The Portuguese was rested in Madrid's 3-2 Primera Liga win over Rayo Vallecano as manager Zinedine Zidane bids to have his main attacking weapon firing on all cylinders against City.

Previous meetings

The two sides have met twice previously in the 2012/13 group stage. Madrid twice came from behind to win 3-2 at the Bernabeu, while the return leg at Etihad Stadium finished 1-1.

Key stat

8: Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last eight games against English clubs, with six wins and two draws.