Manchester City will be aiming to secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals tonight as they host RB Leipzig.
After a 1-1 draw in the round of 16 first leg last month, the tie is still wide open but City will be favourites to progress at the Etihad.
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Pep Guardiola is inching closer to winning his first European title with the Citizens, with a place in the final eight of the competition at stake.
The Champions League is the one trophy that has evaded Guardiola since coming to England but a win against Leipzig would keep his hopes alive in a wide open tournament this year.
And the German side don’t enjoy playing away against English clubs, losing their last three and conceding an average of four goals per game in the process.
So this sounds like a perfect recipe for Erling Haaland to continue his incredible goalscoring record of 17 goals in 11 home fixtures in the competition.
Man City vs RB Leipzig: How to follow
This Champions League round of 16 second leg will take place on Tuesday, March 14.
Kick-off at the Etihad Stadium is scheduled for 8pm.
The game will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1 with coverage beginning
NaijaOnPoint will also keep you up to date with all the action as Adrian Durham hosts ‘Around the Grounds’ live from Manchester.
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Man City vs RB Leipzig: Team news
City are expected to have a full squad available for the game, however, ‘Pep Roulette’ could strike once again.
Kevin De Bruyne was rested against Crystal Palace and is likely to return in midfield while first-leg goalscorer Riyad Mahrez will be competing for a starting spot.
John Stones made his first start since recovering from his injury at the weekend but two games in a row may be too risky and Kyle Walker could be preferred.
As for Leipzig, Christopher Nkunku has picked up another injury problem and will miss out alongside midfielder Xaver Schlager.
There has also been some illness in the German side’s camp, with Timo Werner, Konrad Laimer, Dominik Szoboszlai and Lukas Klostermann all affected.
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Man City vs RB Leipzig: What has been said?
Ahead of the game, Guardiola has discussed the threat of Leipzig.
He said: “They are so aggressive in the high pressing, have an incredible build-up, plus the keeper.
“Eight players inside, two incredible wide full-backs. You close inside they go to full-backs. When you defend outside they have more players inside. It is so difficult to control. We have to be in the right tempo for pressing.
“We have to try to find our spaces and places, our quality to punish them and hopefully defend because we are better.
“We have to win the game and to win we have to try. It will be a good game, they have a fantastic team. At Munich they were in the second division, since then, they do incredible.”
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Man City vs RB Leipzig: Match facts
- Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez has been directly involved in 11 goals across his last 12 starts in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League (7 goals, 4 assists). The Algerian has netted in all three of his matches against RB Leipzig in the competition to date.
- RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku has scored 10 goals across his last 12 starts in the UEFA Champions League, including a hat-trick against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in September 2021. Nkunku is one of two players to score a hat-trick against Manchester City in the competition, the other being Lionel Messi in October 2016.
- Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has scored 17 goals in 11 home matches in the UEFA Champions League, scoring at least two goals in seven of those games. The Norwegian has scored a goal every 49 minutes on average in these matches.
- Marco Rose has taken charge of three matches in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, with all three coming against Manchester City, after his Borussia Mönchengladbach side were eliminated by the club in the last 16 in 2020-21. The only previous instance of a manager facing the same opponent in his first four UEFA Champions League knockout stage matches is Frank Rijkaard against Chelsea between 2004-05 and 2005-06.
- The last team to defeat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage match were Liverpool in the 2017-18 quarter-final second leg – visiting sides have avoided defeat just once in eight matches since.
- Manchester City are unbeaten across their last 23 home matches in the UEFA Champions League, winning 21 of those games. If they avoid defeat in this match, they will equal Arsenal’s record for the longest home unbeaten run by an English club in the UEFA Champions League (24 games between September 2004 and April 2009).
- RB Leipzig are currently unbeaten in five matches in the UEFA Champions League (W4 D1); this is their longest unbeaten run in the competition since a seven-game stretch in 2019-20 when they reached the semi-final.
- Manchester City have won each of their last nine UEFA Champions League matches against German clubs as the designation home side, scoring at least two goals in each match. The last German club to win away at Manchester City in this competition were a Pep Guardiola led FC Bayern München side in 2013-14.
- After winning away at Tottenham Hotspur in a UEFA Champions League last 16 match in 2019-20, RB Leipzig have since lost each of their last three away matches against English clubs in this competition, conceding 13 goals in the process (4.3 per game).
- After winning nine consecutive UEFA Champions League matches against German opponents, Manchester City have since won just one of their last four matches (D2 L1), with the only defeat in this run coming against RB Leipzig last season.
