Aurelien Tchouameni, a defensive midfielder by trade, partnered academy graduate Raul Asencio, 21, who only made his Madrid debut in November, at centre-back against Atletico. Fellow academy defenders Joan Martinez and Jacobo Ramon are also out with injury, accelerating Asencio’s ascent into the first team this season.

Manchester City and Real Madrid meeting in the Champions League has become synonymous with the competition. While both always have ambitions of winning the entire thing, these two teams have already met 12 times in Champions League play with five of those meetings coming in the knockout stage.

The UEFA Champions League play-off round has pitted two of its strongest teams in recent years up against one another as Real Madrid take on Manchester City.