ALL EYES ON BERNABéU: UCL BLOCKBUSTER AS MADRID FACES DEFENSIVE MELTDOWN
Real Madrid faces Man City with an unprecedented eight-player injury crisis, including Militao and Carvajal. City, despite their own injury woes, aims to capitalise on a UCL top-eight finish.
Real Madrid could be without as many as eight of their key players when they play Manchester City in the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Madrid is currently fifth in the group, just two points ahead of Manchester City, who are ninth. This game has become a classic, especially during Pep Guardiola’s time at City.
Since 2020, City has often faced the Spanish team, who have won the Champions League more than any other team. They had mixed results, including their title win in 2023 when they beat Real Madrid in the semi-final and then Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul.
City is doing great in their domestic league, but a surprising 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in Europe, after Guardiola made ten changes to his starting lineup, makes the upcoming game against Real Madrid even more critical.
Last season, Madrid beat Manchester City home and away in the Round of 16, easily winning 6-2 on aggregate. Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the second leg in Spain.
City will miss Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, and John Stones due to injuries. They are not expected to play in Wednesday's game in Madrid. Guardiola will give an update on the team's fitness at a press conference on Tuesday.
Fitness is a big worry for Alonso and Madrid, who are missing many important players for one of the biggest games of the season. All eyes will be on the Santiago Bernabeu this week.
Eder Militao has a hamstring injury, Trent Alexander-Arnold is out until February 2026 with a thigh issue, and Dean Huijsen is doubtful because of a muscle injury.
Dani Carvajal recently had knee surgery and will be out for a while. David Alaba might also miss the game against Manchester City as he recovers from a muscle injury, which kept him out of the 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Ferland Mendy has only played once for Real Madrid this season due to ongoing fitness problems. It’s unclear when Alonso can count on the Frenchman, especially with a tough schedule ahead that could seriously affect their title hopes.
Kylian Mbappe is dealing with discomfort in his left leg. He missed training on Tuesday and is a major doubt for the game against Manchester City, according to Arancha Rodríguez.
Eduardo Camavinga also missed training because of an ankle injury, confirmed by Fabrice Hawkins. This means he will miss the game against City, who will want to use Madrid’s fitness issues to their advantage on Wednesday.
Manchester City can’t afford to lose two Champions League games in a row. Guardiola and his team will try to win, using their good Premier League form. Still, a draw against Real Madrid is never a bad result.
ARSENAL POCKET INSANE £125.18M FOLLOWING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL QUALIFICATION
Mikel Arteta's side has added £15.97m to their cash reserves, eclipsing the total earned by current champions PSG last year.
Arsenal have added another £15.97 million to their UEFA prize money haul after securing a spot in the Champions League final with a win against Atletico Madrid. They are set to face either Bayern Munich or the current champions, Paris Saint-Germain, in Budapest on May 30, aiming for their first-ever triumph in this prestigious competition.
Beyond that, there’s an additional £5.61 million up for grabs in Hungary later this month. But up to now, Arsenal have amassed an eye-watering £125.18 million in Champions League prize money this season alone. A place in next season’s European Super Cup also carries a potential reward of around £3.45 million. It’s been a remarkable European run under Mikel Arteta, with the team dominating the group stage by winning all eight matches.
From the very beginning, the club benefited from the initial distribution of TV revenue and the rankings pool, which together amounted to £49.6 million. Even before the knockout rounds kicked off, Arsenal had already secured £85.3 million in prize money.
That total doesn’t even cover the bonuses linked to their on-field success, as each of their eight victories in the group stage brought in roughly £15.8 million altogether.
By finishing first out of 36 group-phase clubs, Arsenal earned an extra £8.6 million, and progressing straight to the round of 16 as one of the top eight teams secured them another £11.3 million.
They continued their strong run by eliminating Bayer Leverkusen after a 1-1 draw away and a 2-0 win at the Emirates, which added £10.8 million more to their earnings.
Overcoming Sporting CP in the quarter-finals also brought a £10.8 million bonus. While Arsenal’s motivation isn’t just financial, this level of income certainly aids in meeting profit and sustainability rules and other financial fair play criteria.
It’s also likely to support their summer transfer budget, as sporting director Andrea Berta looks to build on Arteta’s squad.
Last season, Arsenal took home £98.63 million after reaching the semi-finals before falling to PSG.
PSG, who went on to win the title, collected about £124.62 million last year, so Arsenal have now already surpassed that figure.
Meanwhile, UEFA has set aside a record £2.13 billion in prize money for the 2025-26 Champions League season, highlighting the competition’s growing financial stakes.
JAN OBLAK CONFESSES ATLETICO WERE "AFRAID TO PLAY" AGAINST ARSENAL
Following their Champions League exit, skipper Jan Oblak analysed where Atletico went wrong and paid tribute to Griezmann.
Jan Oblak didn’t hold back after Atletico Madrid crashed out of the Champions League against Arsenal. He said straight up that the team just didn’t do enough to earn a spot in the final. Sure, he’s proud of how far the squad has come recently, but the way they went out still stings.
Oblak was pretty open about where things went wrong, especially after the first leg, when Atletico failed to take an advantage back to London. “I'm disappointed, just like all the fans. Honestly, I can’t find the words. We didn’t do enough to be in the final, and it’s just a tough moment. We had our chances to win, but we didn’t take them. All that’s left is to congratulate Arsenal.”
He didn’t stop there, either. Speaking to CBS Golazo, Oblak was even more direct about the team’s mentality, especially in the first half of both matches. He felt Atletico were hesitant, too respectful of Arsenal, and afraid to play. Both times, they fell behind before halftime and then tried to play catch-up, but it was always a little too late. “This has happened several times this season,” Oblak said, “and while we’ve managed to win those games before, not today when it mattered most.”
On the flip side, Oblak did give some credit to the young players and the growth the team’s shown, especially after a couple of big summers that saw a huge part of the squad change. “The last two seasons, we’ve switched out something like 15 players. A lot of young guys with not much experience came in. They did great in the cup, and they’ve held up in the Champions League too. In the league, we weren’t good enough for the biggest matches, but I’m proud of how the younger ones are growing. Still, when the goal is to win a title, and you don’t, you can’t call it a success. All we can do is look forward and hope we’ll be fighting for trophies next season.”
Saying goodbye to Antoine Griezmann made this exit even sadder for Oblak and the rest of the squad. Griezmann’s heading to Orlando City this summer, bringing the curtain down on his Champions League career with Atletico. “Everyone’s going to miss Griezi; he’s an incredible player and a great guy. The kind of person who’s always smiling, always positive, and does things on the pitch nobody else can. We’ll miss him a lot; the fans will miss him, but he deserves nothing but the best wherever he goes.”
At 33, Oblak is one of Atletico’s true leaders, right behind Koke for the captain’s armband. Alongside Jose Maria Gimenez and Marcos Llorente, he’s been a
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