After an interesting 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany, Manchester City take on RB Leipzig in the second leg of their Round of 16 UEFA Champions League tie on Tuesday.
As much as it may sound like a cliché, that opening match at the Red Bull Arena was what commentators usually call a “game of two halves”. The Citizens completely dominated the first 45 minutes of the game and consequently took the lead through Riyad Mahrez just under half an hour in. They could and probably should have scored more from the chances they created in that opening stanza. After the break however, Leipzig came roaring back and ultimately deserved their 70th minute equalizer by Joško Gvardiol. Even considering how impressive the result and the comeback were for RB, given City’s quality and their home form, as well as Leipzig’s inconsistency, particularly on their travels, Pep Guardiola’s men are the clearest of favourites to advance to the quarterfinals. The only thing to say in support of Marco Rose’s team is the fact that they have truly nothing to lose in this tie.
Speaking of losing, RB have already lost the services of key players such as Christopher Nkunku and Xaver Schlager to injury for this match. Dani Olmo’s participation is also very much in doubt for the same reason, to say nothing about first-choice goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi, who is out for the season. This means that the Bundesliga side are infinitely more up against it, then they already would be if everyone in their squad was healthy.
As far as the Citizens are concerned, even though they are still in a position to defend their Premiership crown, their main focus will certainly be on the Champions League. It is the competition they were built to win and also the one that so far continues to elude them. All of the pressure in Tuesday’s match will be squarely on their shoulders.
That said, their form has been excellent lately. The first leg result was one of just two draws in the last six games in all competitions. They have won the remaining four of those matches during that spell. Furthermore, they are unbeaten at home in Champions League play since losing to Lyon in the group stage of the 2018/19 season and have failed to win at the Etihad only twice in Premier League play this season.
The projected lineups of both teams are as follows: Man. City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Rúben Dias; Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Grealish; Gündoğan; De Bruyne; Haaland.
Leipzig: Blaswich; Henrichs, Orbán, Gvardiol, Raum; Haidara, Kampl; Szoboszlai, Forsberg; Werner, André Silva.
TIP OF THE DAY
MANCHESTER CITY-RB LEIPZIG
MANCHESTER CITY WINNER