Manchester City since last season are better than Madrid, therefore let’s see if they can eliminate Madrid this time.
The second leg game at the Etihad last season was unbelievable, that was some of the best football i have ever seen in my life and that's why they beat Madrid 4-0, and 5-1 on aggregate, to send them into the CL final. Having said that, if City can replicate that again, they'd definitely qualify, but it is going to be so difficult.
Real Madrid's manager and players won't admit it, but they are coming into this tie with a feeling of revenge for last season's humilation and that would make the game even my feisty and interesting, anyway my prediction is on City to qualify, i think they would actually win the CL again, so eliminating Madrid would send a strong message to other teams that they can do it.
Nothing is the same from last season, in terms of strength Real Madrid and Manchester City are different this season and these two teams are top teams that can do anything in a match to turn things around so I don't think that what happened last season can become a benchmark for it to be repeated this season.
To be able to win the UCL twice in a row is not an easy thing.
If there is a favorite for Manchester City to be able to defend the title, that's fine, but I think it won't be easy and even the percentage is very small, because overall Manchester City's performance this season is no better than last season and several teams in the quarter-finals currently have better quality compared to last season, so it will be a barrier for Manchester City.