VIDEO: Jude Bellingham humiliated by Thibaut Courtois in training as cheeky nutmeg leaves Real Madrid team-mates in fits of laughter ahead of Champions League showdown with Man City

Twenty-four hours before a titanic showdown between the reigning English champions and the current Champions League holders, Carlo Ancelotti's troops stepped onto the Etihad Stadium pitch to fine-tune their tactics. Despite the magnitude of the first leg round of 16 play-off encounter, it looked like a regular day at the office for Los Blancos. The players were involved in a fun rondo and during the drill, Courtois nutmegged Bellingham, which the rest of the Real squad in stitches.

Courtois faces a daunting 90 minutes in Manchester. Real Madrid will be putting up a makeshift rearguard in the absence of a regular centre-back and a right-back. With Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, and Lucas Vazquez all injured, Ancelotti might deploy Fede Valverde at right-back, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asencio as the two centre-backs.

With Madrid and City meeting regularly in the Champions League in recent seasons, Ancelotti believes their encounters have become a modern-day version of El Clasico. However, given their dismal Clasico record this season against Barcelona, the Italian manager will hope those ghosts remain buried in Spain while they look to bring an advantage to the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of the decisive second leg next Wednesday.