Group stageTodayZenit vs MálagaDynamo Kyiv vs PSGFC Porto vs Dinamo ZagrebArsenal vs Montpellier Man City vs Real Madrid Schalke 04 vs Olympiacos Anderlecht vs AC MilanAjax vs DortmundMANCHESTER – Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini may think his side need a miracle but his players have not given up hope of making it through to the next round of the Champions League.City must beat Real Madrid on Wednesday and then Borussia Dortmund in their final game and hope that other results go their way to advance to the knockout phase.The big-spending English champions sit on top of the Premier League again this season but have looked clueless in Europe as their lack of tactical nous has seen them flatter to deceive.A 3-2 defeat in Madrid, when they had led 2-1 with just a few minutes to go, knocked their confidence and they await the arrival of Madrid with trepidation.Mancini joked that he would need to “call the police” to stop the prolific Ronaldo, whose goals have kept Madrid apace with Barcelona in recent seasons.“I just hope he can have a bad night on Wednesday because when you come up against a player who can score one or two goals every game it is difficult,” Mancini said.“Ronaldo is a top player and he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. He scored so many goals last year and that helped Real to finish above Barcelona.”Mancini has said several times that City were effectively out of the event but even the Italian hinted that there may be hope.“If we had come back from the Bernabeu with a good result it would have probably changed this group for us,” he said.City beat Aston Villa 5-0 at the weekend to return to the top of the Premier League but Madrid’s Sergio Ramos said the Spanish side is confident they can get the result they need.“For me, it’s a surprise they are nearly out of the Champions League,” Ramos said. “We really thought City would be our main rivals to top the group.“City are a big group of players, not just individuals. But that does not guarantee success in the Champions League.
