UEFA Champions League: Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid live
Preview
Manchester City host Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester today. The match kicks off at 7:00 pm(GMT) with Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs in charge as center referee. A win for either side today will be pivotal going into the second leg in Madrid next week.
Manchester City are in great form coming into today’s game. Pep Guardiola’s men have won three of their last five competitive games, drawing twice. Their last competitive game was a 2-0 away win at Burnley, with goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan keeping City in the Premier League title race. Without a loss at home so far in the Champions League, Manchester City will fancy themselves for the win today.
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Atletico Madrid have been impressive over the past few gameweeks, winning all five of their last five competitive games including a 1-0 win in Manchester over Manchester United in the Champions League last 16. Their last competitive game was a 4-1 win over Deportivo Alaves at the Wanda Metropolitano, with a brace each from Joao Felix and Luis Suarez extending Atleti’s unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions. After beating Manchester United over two legs in the round of 16, manager Diego Simeone will be looking for a similar result today when they face the Blue side of Manchester today.
Head-to-head
This is the first competitive meeting between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.
Prediction
Manchester City are expected to dominate possession in today’s game while Atletico sit comfortably in defense and counter during the transitions. With just one loss at home since the turn of the year for City and Atletico being impressive over the past few weeks, a very competitive game is expected in Manchester today. However, considering Pep’s experience in UCL games and the crop of players on the City side, a win for Manchester City is the most probable outcome.
