Where to watch Real Madrid vs Man City tonight – on TV and online

Two giants of European football face off tonight in the Champions League, it’s Real Madrid vs Man City. Our guide tells you everything you need to know to watch and stream the game tonight. 

In this first leg tie, it’s all to play for and Pep’s City will be eager to make a statement against high-profile opposition. Both teams are currently in a frustrated second place in their respective league tables and will hope to make up for that with triumph in Europe.

Real Madrid have won the Champions League a total of 13 times. Now, Manchester City are keen to win the trophy themselves and show that they belong amongst Europe’s biggest clubs.

Real Madrid vs Man City kick-off time

The game gets underway at 8pm GMT, UK time. For US viewers, that’s 3pm Eastern Time or 12pm Pacific Time.

How to watch or live stream Real Madrid vs Man City from the UK, on any device

The match will be live on BT Sport 2, for subscribers. Currently BT is offering a no-contract deal − subscribers can watch all the sport on BT for £25 a month.

If you’re a BT subscriber, but you won’t be in when the match is on, you can watch the game on-the-go on the BT Sport app. Make sure to sign up for the app ahead of time though, if you haven’t already, as there can be a delay in the sign-up process.

Related: You can finally get BT Sport without a contract – here’s how to get it

How to stream the game from anywhere

If you aren’t sure if you can access BT Sport where you are, then the best way to get around your issues might be a VPN. That’s because access to normal coverage might be geo-blocked – that is, you are prevented from watching outside your home country, usually due to rights reasons.

VPNs encrypt and anonymise your data and enable you to appear as if you are watching from your home country, so they are useful for much more than entertainment.

We’ve tested 18 of the most reliable VPNs – see our guide to the best VPNs to help you out. Or you can find out more about the top 4 in our comparison table below.

We’ve found three good VPN deals which should get you started, which we’ve featured below. In our testing these have usually provided good value VPN access for a wide range of services. Or scroll down for our pick of the top 4 in our VPN tests.

Compare our top 4 recommended VPNs

Real Madrid vs Man City match preview

Real suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss away at Levante on Saturday, drawing at home to Celta Vigo in the match before that. So, with Los Blancos far from their imperious best, will Pep’s City be able to take advantage?

City’s league form doesn’t look much better. Though the sky blues have won their last two fixtures, they suffered defeats to Tottenham and cross-town rivals, Manchester United, in the two league games before that. They’ll hope their most recent results are the start of a consistent run of form.

However you slice it, these two titans are not at their very best this season, but will European competition bring the best out of them?

For Pep’s City side, it surely must. They are now so far behind Liverpool in the Premier League and — following financial fairplay rulings — the team are banned from European competition for the next two years.

The result? Excelling in Europe is a must for the blues this season and Guardiola will surely prize it above all else.

Conversely, Real Madrid are only two points behind Barcelona in La Liga and as a result, the Spanish side is essentially fighting on two fronts.

In the teams’ last four meetings, Real have won twice, with the other two games finishing as draws. Will the Spanish side come out on top again this evening?

City have undoubted quality and plenty of motivation to succeed in the tournament, but will that be enough? It’s well worth tuning in on BT Sport to find out.

Related: Sky now lets you combine Sky Sports and BT Sport channels in one package