Manchester City take on the visitors Atletico Madrid in the first leg of Champions League’s quarterfinals. The match will be played on Tuesday, April 5th at Etihad Stadium (Manchester).
The club, ironically, plays on the international stage at the same time as its rival with the only rival on the domestic side - Liverpool. And ahead, already at the weekend, the contenders for the title in the Premier League will clash face-to-face. At the same time, if the Merseyside’s team have a chance to play pragmatically in the Champions League - they have an away match against the modest Benfica, then Pep Guardiola's men need to achieve tasks this Tuesday. In the last year draw, they finally managed to reach the final of the tournament - but in the end they lost to Chelsea. Now the real struggle begins. It would be a sensation if the Blue Moon had not passed at the group stage of Brugge and RB Leipzig. Moreover, the Lisbon Sporting did not create problems either. Already in Portugal, Bernardo Silva and the company decided everything, and already in the 1st half scoring 4 goals. As a result, City slowed down: they scored again on the road, and at home they were completely limited to a goalless draw.
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The visiting team is still formally the champion of its country. But everyone understands that it will not protect this status. Atletico overcame struggles of the first part of the season and gain a foothold in the top 4 zone - so the club will remain in the Champions League. Unless, of course, they give up in the end and allow Betis to catch. However, 6 wins in a row, topped off with 4-1 over Alaves at the weekend, allow a possibility for an optimistic prediction about the Cholo’s team. And the Spaniards will try to save the tempo through the Champions League. It was also not easy there in the fall, but nevertheless, the Madrid team was able to get ahead of both Milan and Porto in the dispute for 2nd place (however, it was the English, Liverpool, who were victorious in both meetings). And, most importantly, they managed to show ourselves well in the 1/8 finals. There was also 1 representative from EPL, Manchester United. Already at home it was possible to demonstrate organized football. But at Old Trafford, the Spaniards managed to show their signature football: score and keep a clean sheet.
Paradoxically, these 2 giants somehow managed not to intersect with each other. This will be the first game between the teams. Manchester City will not have Ruben Dias and Palmer and it seems that Mendy can be forgotten. Atlético will miss Herrera due to injury and Ferreira-Carrasco due to cards. Bookmakers believe that Atlético will not be able to cling to points in England.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 goals scored.
