But their meeting took place in the quarter-finals and it was quite close to the semifinals while at this time they have not even qualified for the last 16 directly and must go through the play-off round to be able to qualify for the next round and we did not witness one of Madrid / Man City in the last 16 which I think is incomplete if one of them is not there, I also did not expect their meeting to be at the beginning of this round which makes the competition feel tense.
I also agree with you that Real Madrid is better when compared to Man City but we also cannot underestimate Man City because the opposite could happen.
The opposite could indeed happen in the match between Real Madrid vs Manchester City, but as we have seen together that Real Madrid is always a bit dangerous when in a round or condition that is quite crucial. So Manchester City must be more vigilant with their opponents in the UCL play-off match this season because a team as strong as Atalanta has already experienced defeat at home when facing Real Madrid in the previous standings. So Manchester City must have a tactic that is powerful enough to withstand attacks from Real Madrid players in the play-off round later.