Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Champions League clash between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Having already seen a Manchester-based outfit of this season, Atletico Madrid travel to Etihad to meet Manchester By in the first part of their Champions League quarterfinals Tuesday night.
Pep GuardiolaThe team passed Sporting Lisbon 5-0 overall in the last 16, while the La Liga champions drove past the Red Devils 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
Match preview
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Fans definitely got their money’s worth when Man City took the trip to the Estadio Jose Alvalade for the first part of their 16-match with Sporting, who Bernard Silva (2), Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling put the tie to bed before it had even begun.
The second match, on the other hand, was a far more tedious affair, but City only needed to avoid the most catastrophic collapse to get closer to a coveted Champions League crown, and a goalless draw gave them a safe passage into the last eight of Europe’s elite competition.
The Champions League has not been Guardiola’s bread and butter at the Etihad, nor is it this season’s Premier League, where City were briefly knocked out of the top spot by Liverpool earlier on Saturday before quickly plundering the Reds as Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne struck in a 2-0 success at Burnley.
City’s top showdown with Jürgen Klopp‘s men on April 10 are fast approaching, but the Champions League still escapes the Premier League champions, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals three years in a row before cashing in their second-place medals in 2021.
The restless Etihad faithful can certainly not imagine the last eight-curse hitting again this time, but their team has collected seven games unbeaten in all tournaments and won nine in a row at home in the Champions League before taking it easy. against Sporting.
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Being held to a 1-1 draw at Wanda Metropolitano – even with the away goal rule now abolished – did not set Atletico well up for a trip to Old Trafford, but Manchester United had no answer to a typical dawn Diego Simeon performance on own grass.
A simple header from an unlikely source in Renan Lodi was all that was required for Atletico to make it to the final eight, where Simeone immediately crashed down the tunnel at the full-time whistle and was flung by objects from the crowd for his troubles.
The less that is said about Atletico’s futile La Liga title defense, the better, but the reigning Spanish champions have hit a rich form at just the right time, with a 4-1 league success over Alaves on Saturday night representing their sixth consecutive triumph. across all competitions.
The victory at Old Trafford also marked the third of four consecutive away victories for Simeone’s revived team, which has not made it past the quarter-finals of this tournament since the 2016-17 season and went down to English opponents at Chelsea without making the net wave. last year.
Tuesday’s first match will mark the first ever tournament meeting between Man City and Atletico, but Guardiola and Simeone have locked the horns as managers three times, with the latter overtaken by his opponent’s Bayern Munich team in the 2015-16 Champions League.
Manchester City Champions League form:
Manchester City form (all tournaments):
Atletico Madrid Champions League form:
Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):
Team news
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Man City boss Pep Guardiola did not sugarcoat his words after Kyle Walker‘s “stupid” red cards in the group game against RB Leipzig, where the right-back on Tuesday night served the last match in a three-match quarantine.
The hosting manager’s defensive dilemma is not helped Rubens days‘s hamstring injury, however, keeps him a little longer on the sidelines John Stones stood on the bench at Burnley after withdrawing from England’s service as a precautionary measure.
Youth Cole Palmer (ankle) is the only other injury concern for Guardiola, who named Mahrez and Silva on the bench at Burnley, but could now choose to bring the attacking duo back in a rotated XI.
City are not the only ones working around a three-game quarantine as an Atletico striker Yannick Carrasco joins Walker in serving the final match of a lengthy European quarantine this week, however Koge and English strings is back from domestic bans.
The duo’s return leaves MLS bound Hector Herrera as the guests’ only absent for the first match, with Renan Lodi and Rodrigo DePaul both suited for the 45 minute piece on the weekend after returning from international service in South America.
louis suarez came off the bench to get a 15-minute break against Alaves and has given Simeone food for thought in the final third, but Joao Felix and Antoine Griezmann could continue their partnership for the time being.
Manchester City’s possible starting line-up:
Ederson; Cancelo, Laporte, Stones, Zinchenko; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
Atletico Madrid possible starting line-up:
Cloud; Savic, Gimenez, Reinildo; Llorente, De Paul, Kondogbia, Koke, Lodi; Griezmann, Felix
We say: Manchester City 1-1 Atletico Madrid
The distraction of Liverpool’s visit to the Etihad in a week’s time may not sneak into the head of Man City’s XI here, but yet another mammoth encounter with a somewhat exhausted defense is not a cause for optimism.
Simeone’s Atletico have not been resilient at their best – Man United found out well enough – and with Simeone having almost all of his big-hitters available, we can imagine the strong Colchoneros holding Guardiola’s men to a draw before the return leg in the Spanish capital.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners on Sporita.com predict under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they anticipate for this game, and for more of their tried and tested football tips.Under 3.5: data