Real Madrid vs. Man City live score: Champions League result, updates, stats as Xabi Alonso chases much-needed win

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Real Madrid welcome Manchester City to the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League with head coach Xabi Alonso in the spotlight.

The 15-time European champions have won just two of their past seven matches across all competitions and are in the throes of an injury crisis.

Sunday's home loss to Celta Vigo left Los Blancos four points behind Barcelona at the top of La Liga and reports in the Madrid press this week have suggested defeat to City will cost Alonso his job.

"When you are the coach of Real Madrid, you have to be ready to face these situations in a calm and relaxed way," the former Bayer Leverkusen boss said at his post-match news conference. "I feel confident. We want to create excitement, we are trying to change the situation and, in our mind, all we have is Manchester City in the Champions League. This [situation] can change very quickly; we can change our vision."

City come into the match on the back of three successive wins in the Premier League but lost their previous league phase match, when a heavily rotated side went down 2-0 at home to Alonso's old employers Leverkusen.

AllSportsPeople is following the Real Madrid vs. Manchester City match live, providing score updates and commentary

Real Madrid vs. Man City score

Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Referee: Clement Turpin

Confirmed lineups:

Real Madrid (4-3-3, right to left): Courtois (GK) — Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras —Ceballos, Tchouameni, Bellingham — Rodrygo, G. Garcia, Vinicius Jr.

Man City (4-2-2-2, right to left): Donnarumma (GK) — Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly — Silva, Nico — Cherki, Foden — Haaland, Doku

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Real Madrid vs. Man City live updates, highlights, and commentary

1 hr 10 mins before kickoff: Here's the Madrid team. Starts for Dani Ceballos and Rodrygo. Mbappe is fit enough for a spot on the bench.

📋✅ Our starting XI!
🆚 @ManCity pic.twitter.com/oAN3cEk73N

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 10, 2025

1 hr 15 mins before kickoff: The teams are in. City are unchanged from the team that beat Sunderland 3-0 at the weekend.

Your City team to face Real Madrid 😤🩵

XI | Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Bernardo (C), Foden, Cherki, Doku, Haaland

SUBS | Trafford, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Ake, Marmoush, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Bobb, Lewis pic.twitter.com/VoT9x7YVwo

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 10, 2025

1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: At the start of last month, when Real Madrid followed up their Clasico win over Barcelona with a 4-0 thrashing of Valencia, things were looking rosy for Xabi Alonso. He'd won 13 of 14 games in charge of Madrid. Now, after two wins in seven and a defeat to Celta Vigo at the weekend, Alonso is apparently on the brink.

Lose to City tonight and he is tipped to be sacked. Why are Real Madrid like this? We've tried to unpack it a little below.

MORE: Xabi Alonso facing sack rumours highlights Real Madrid's unsolvable manager problem

2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to AllSportsPeople' live coverage of Real Madrid vs. Manchester City in the Champions League.

Real Madrid vs. Man City  kick off time

The Champions League match kicks off in Madrid, Spain at 9 p.m. Local time.

Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:

Real Madrid vs. Man City lineups, team news

With so much on the line for Xabi Alonso, it would have been an enormous blow for Kylian Mbappe to miss this match. Despite nursing a knee injury, the France superstar has made the bench.

Rodrygo and Club World Cup hero Gonzalo Garcia join Vinicius Junior  in the front three.

Alonso also has a litany of defensive concerns to work around. Eder Militao and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been recently added to the long list of injury absences along the back line, which already included Dani Carvajal, Dean Huijsen, David Alaba  and Ferland Mendy.

Eduardo Camavinga has picked up an ankle issue, meaning Dani Ceballos  makes a rare start in midfield.

Real Madrid (4-3-3, right to left): Courtois (GK) — Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras —Ceballos, Tchouameni, Bellingham — Rodrygo, G. Garcia, Vinicius Jr.

Real Madrid subs: Lunin (GK), Gonzalez (GK), Endrick, Mbappe, Guler, F. Garcia, Brahim, Cestero, Mastantuono, Martinez, Valdepenas

Rodri  remains out due to a hamstring problem alongside long-term absentee Mateo Kovacic.

John Stones  has been a mainstay in the Champions League this season, but is also out as Guardiola sticks with the configuration that has served him well in the Premier League of late.

Rayan Cherki  marked his return to the first XI with two assists in a sparkling performance against Sunderland and is retained against the 15-time European champions.

Man City (4-2-2-2, right to left): Donnarumma (GK) — Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly — Silva, Nico — Cherki, Foden — Haaland, Doku

Man City subs:  Trafford (GK), Bettinelli (GK), Reijnders, Ake, Marmoush, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Bobb, Lewis

Real Madrid vs. Man City live stream, TV channel

Here is how to watch the match in some of the world's major regions: