Manchester City welcome Atletico Madrid to the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of their Quarter-Final tie in 2021-22 UEFA Champions League.
Man City qualified for this stage of the competition by thrashing Sporting Lisbon in the Round of 16, whilst Atletico edged past Manchester United to set up this Quarter-Final tie.
Team News
Man City have no fresh injury concerns to report after Saturday’s Premier League win at Burnley, although John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riyad Mahrez could return after being rested at Turf Moor.
Kyle Walker will serve the last of a three match UEFA ban but Ruben Dias (hamstring), Cole Palmer (foot) and Benjamin Mendy (personal) remain absent.
Atletico Madrid could be without Jose Gimenez as he continues to recover from a muscle injury.
Hector Herrera (thigh) is unlikely to be risked unless he is declared match fit, whilst Yannick Carrasco is serving the last of a three match UEFA ban.
Stat Attack
- This is Manchester City’s first-ever competitive meeting against Atletico Madrid in all UEFA competitions.
- Atletico Madrid are visiting the Etihad Stadium for the very first time in all competitions.
- Man City have lost just two of eight previous Champions League home matches against Spanish opposition (W4, D2, L2).
- Gabriel Jesus has scored three goals in three of his four home appearances for Man City in the Champions League this season.
- Two of Atletico Madrid’s six away goals in the Champions League this season were scored by Antoine Griezmann.
Prediction
Having played their last three matches away from home in all competitions, Man City certainly should be eager to deliver a strong display on their return to the Etihad, especially after delivering a dominant yet controlled display to beat Burnley with clinical attacking moves.
Atletico meanwhile haven’t exactly been excellent on the European stage this season but shouldn’t be written off, especially if they deploy the same 5-3-2 formation and pressing tactics which frustrated United in the last round but City will be a much harder team to silence.
With that aspect of Atletico’s style in mind, I am expecting City to try and seize early control of the match but they will probably need pace in their runs and awareness of incoming crosses, if they’re to breach Atletico’s defence and create chances.
In fact, this could well be a tight battle given that both teams haven’t met each other before.
Prediction: Manchester City 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Result: Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid
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