Sporting hosts Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Tuesday, February 15th at Estádio José Alvalade (Lisbon)
Sporting sensationally made it to the playoffs of the Champions League, outranking Borussia Dortmund in the group stage. The Lions earned nine points in six matches and finished in second place, lagging behind Ajax. Five out of six games in the group stage of the Champions League ended with Over 2.5 goals scored. In the previous three home matches, Ruben Amorim's men gained two victories and suffered one defeat. At the moment, the Lions are in fairly good shape. In the last four matches in all tournaments, they scored at least two goals against their opponents.
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In the previous season, Manchester City played in the Champions League final but lost 1-0 to Chelsea. Of course, Guardiola's men will try to make things better this year. I'm sure their main goal is to win the tournament. The Citizens went through the group stage as confidently as possible. They took first place, outranking PSG, RB Leipzig, and Club Brugge KV. Manchester City scored 12 points in six games. Guardiola will probably field the strongest lineup in the Champions League because the team is doing even better than just good in the Premier League. After 23 rounds, the gap from second place is nine points. The Citizens are currently on a 10-match unbeaten streak in all competitions (nine victories and one draw).
Sporting CP and Manchester City have crossed paths only two times. It was in the 2011/2012 season, in the playoffs of the Europa League. Then the Lions were stronger than the Citizens at home (1-0). But the English team took revenge in the second leg (3-2). As you know, the playoffs of each Euro tournament will consist of two matches. Therefore, Pep Guardiola is well aware that there is no need for his players to force events in Portugal, because they will be able to correct even the most unfortunate result of the first leg in the return game at Etihad Stadium. But the Lions will certainly try their best because they are well aware of how difficult it will be for them in the second game. I think that the hosts will be able to upset the opponents’ goalkeeper. And of course, the visitors will also score their goal.
Prediction for the match: Both teams to score — yes
