“City will not only beat Madrid; they are going to crush them”

Wayne Rooney, former Manchester United, Everton, Derby County and England player, retired from football at the age of 35 after a successful professional career. He now collaborates with the media analyzing the football news of the English teams. In his last column written in The Times ha x-rayed the match that Manchester City will play this Tuesday against Real Madrid and the conclusion he reaches is that City are clearly favorites to go to the final. “Manchester City will not only beat Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, but they will be crushed,” he says.

The former player recognizes the trajectory of Real Madrid, but his clear favorite to go to the final is City: “Of course, I could be wrong, but I think City is on another level. You can never rule out a team with experience and the history of Madrid, but I wouldn’t bet on them. I think this is City’s year”.

You can never rule out a team with Madrid’s experience and history, but this year it’s from City

Rooney

“Since the beginning of the season I felt that this would be the campaign in which Pep Guardiola would finally conquer Europe with City and the football that his team has been practicing in recent months and the way that they are peaking at the right time, has only reaffirmed that thought,” Rooney said.

For Rooney the unbalancing factor of this tie is Erling Haaland. “A year ago, Madrid eliminated City, but now the dynamics are different. City are better in defense and are a more patient team, but the biggest change is Erling Haaland. Last season at the Bernabéu the team was crazy for five minutes that made him lose the tie. With Haaland it would not have happened. Real Madrid could not have played the same way. In both games they had periods in which they took the ball from City and they were able to do it because City had no real threat of counterattack”.

No central defender in the world can stop Haaland

Rooney

The ex of the Unied wonders How could Real Madrid stop Haaland?. Given that Militao will not be available for Ancelotti in the first leg due to suspension, everything points to Rüdiger being in charge of dealing with the Norwegian striker. “He’s a great competitor who likes one-on-one. Still, I don’t think the German defender can handle Haaland, to be honest. With Haaland’s speed and power, and his movement in the box, I don’t think that no center in the world can stop him”