Are we going to see City go straight for the jugular? They're quickly into their pressing game, looking to pen in the full-backs.

It's the 13-time winners against the club desperate for their first taste of Champions League glory.

We are under way.

Alan Shearer
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

You can feel the atmosphere building. I think we could be in for a cracker tonight.

Well, there's a bit of hostility for the Champions League anthem. Boos from the stands do their best to drown it out.

Flags everywhere. The City fans are getting in the mood to their own version of 'Hey Jude' as the players get ready to head out.

City need this place to be lively. Hostile, even. Does the Etihad get hostile these days? It's been a while since I've been.

Simon Gleave
Head of sports analysis, Nielsen Gracenote

The first Champions League semi-final is the tightest of the two matches with Manchester City ranked second on the Euro Club Index, external and Real Madrid third. City are favoured to go through with the ECI estimating 57% chance of a second successive final for Pep Guardiola's team. Real Madrid have 43% chance of reaching their 17th final of Europe's premier club competition. If Real make it for the first time since 2018, there is a good chance of a repeat of opponents from that final four years ago when they beat Liverpool 3-1.

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

Toni Kroos is not the same player positionally so there is a little hole there. I'm sure Manchester City will exploit those spaces when there is a holding midfielder there who is not as attentive as Casemiro is.

Image source, Getty Images

There is a bit of history between tonight's two bosses too. I mean, it is to be expected as they've been at the top of the European game for a fair old while now.

In Marti Perarnau's book, Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich, the now City boss describes his Bayern teams loss to Ancelotti's Real in the semi-finals of the 2013-14 tournament as such: ""I got it wrong man. I got it totally wrong. It’s a monumental f***-up. A total mess. The biggest f***-up of my life as a coach."

Bayern lost the first leg of that tie 1-0 in Madrid but were ripped apart 4-0 in Germany, with Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo both scoring twice.

Pep's mistake? Switching away from a 3-4-3 formation that he had initially settled on for the second leg, before then changing his mind to go with his usual 4-2-3-1 and then doing so again to start with 4-2-4.

Needless to say, it failed spectacularly.

Real would beat Madrid rivals Atletico 4-1 in the final.

Alan Shearer
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Carlo Ancelotti has an air of confidence about him with his history and record. He is an amazing manager with a thirst for success. It wouldn't surprise me if he goes all the way in this competition because of his know-how.

Image source, Getty Images

Despite beating French champions PSG and current Champions League holders Chelsea in this season's competition, the jury remains out on the degree of positive influence boss Carlo Ancelotti has had on Real's run to the last four.

"If you keep talking about magic nights, miracles and huge turnarounds it is because your gameplan didn't work," said Balague.

"Real Madrid perform those miracles because they have a lot of quality. It is despite Ancelotti."

Ancelotti, on the other hand, is one of only three managers to have won the European Cup/Champions League three times and has won 74% of his 35 games in charge of Real in the Champions League - the best win percentage of any manager with at least 20 games for a single club in the competition.

This will be a record 31st Champions League semi-final for the club, and they are going for an unmatched 17th victory.

"I don't think you can reach the semi-finals so many times and get told there is no logic to it," said Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki.

"Madrid are a team who know how to chase wins. It is a collective effort, everyone who wins deserves to win.

"It is the tactical adjustments that were made when they were dead in the water. It is not despite Ancelotti. The difference between this year and last is Ancelotti."

Image source, Getty Images

A bit of Real news to emerge this afternoon...

They have agreed a deal to sign Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger when his contract expires at the end of the season, says Guillem Balague.

On Sunday, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said Rudiger had failed to agree a new deal with the European champions.

Rudiger, who has also spoken to Bayern Munich, was offered a contract worth more than £200,000 to stay at Chelsea.

The 29-year-old is expected to sign a four-year-old deal at the Bernabeu with a medical set to take place in London.

BBC Sport understands the signing-on and agent's fees demanded by Rudiger's camp proved too steep for Chelsea.

"Real Madrid had originally rejected the chance to sign Rudiger but the financial demands were reduced by the player," said Balague, BBC Sport's European football expert.

Andy West
Spanish football writer

Image source, Reuters

It's not difficult to pinpoint the biggest threat to Manchester City's chances of advancing to the Champions League final.

Karim Benzema is having a spectacular season for Real Madrid, with consecutive hat-tricks against Paris St-Germain and Chelsea suggesting the 34-year-old France striker is ready to inherit the 'Mr Champions League' mantle from former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Benzema is not Real's only 30-something star who keeps getting better with age, because midfield maestro Luka Modric - now 36 - is also having another magnificent campaign.

In fact, a case could be made that Modric is even more important to Real's overall structure than Benzema, because his dual ability to build play from the back and create danger around the opposition penalty area is fundamental to the team's coherence and fluidity.

Read more of Andy West's piece on Luka Modric here.

Alan Shearer
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Karim Benzema seems to be getting better this season. He is absolutely fantastic! We saw his goals in the previous rounds. What a player! A top, top centre-forward.

Ayo Obit: Vinicius and Rodrygo vs Stones and Zinchenko! Not liking that match-up for Man City.

Alan Shearer
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

How long have we got? As a centre-forward, Karim Benzema is as good as anyone around. He is obviously a goalscorer. His movement is amazing. He has a good relationship and understanding with Vinicius Junior now. He has a supreme confidence that makes him one of the elite. He feels as if he's the man now.

Image source, Getty Images

Just a few Karim Benzema facts now, courtesy of the Champions League website, to really put the shakes into Man City fans (and also a few bits to give them hope)...

Karim Benzema has 15 goals in his last 11 Madrid appearances including a 92nd-minute winner at Sevilla. On a more positive note for City, he did miss two penalties at Osasuna, becoming the first player to miss two in the same Liga game since April 2006.

In fact, while Benzema has scored seven penalties in the league this season he has also missed four, the most spot kicks any player has failed to score in a Liga campaign since 2005/06. Three of those misses have come this month, the other in a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo on 2 April, a game in which he also converted two penalties.

Benzema has 39 goals in 40 matches in all competitions this season. Oof.

His tally of 25 Liga goals so far this season is his most prolific campaign for Madrid, surpassing his 2015-16 total of 24. He has passed the 20-goal mark in the Spanish top flight for the fourth season running, the seventh player to achieve that feat.