Manchester City will be aiming to book their spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League when they travel to the Westfalenstadion to take on Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their quarter-final bout.
The Black and Yellow were minutes away from claiming a 1-1 draw from the first leg at the Etihad, but a late Phil Foden strike saw City win the tie 2-1 ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
On a night where Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland was expected to show City what could be theirs if they play their cards right, the Norway international was unable to make the Etihad net ripple, although he must have thought that his assist for Marco Reus’s 84th minute equaliser would be a game-defining moment last week.
Reus’s late goal came after Kevin De Bruyne had lashed in the opener after 19 minutes, and even though Dortmund managed to notch up a priceless away goal, City’s own starlet in Phil Foden struck in the 90th minute to give City the upper hand at half time in the tie.
The game was not without its controversy, though, as the ever-impressive Jude Bellingham had what he believed was a perfectly good goal chalked off for a perceived foul on Ederson, but the 17-year-old is now gearing up for another chance to stamp his youthful authority on Pep Guardiola’s side this week.
Bellingham did find the back of the net in Dortmund’s 3-2 win over Stuttgart at the weekend – and that goal was not disallowed – but Dortmund were close to dropping points again before another teenager in Ansgar Knauff came off the bench to net the winner in the 80th minute.
Having managed to win just two of their last seven games across all competitions, and two of their last five in the Champions League, confidence is not exactly high in Edin Terzic’s ranks, but they have at least strung an eight-game European unbeaten run together on home soil before a shell-shocked Man City step out onto the Westfalenstadion turf.
Not even “magical” Pep Guardiola could get one over Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa at the weekend, as an inspirational performance from Stuart Dallas propelled the Whites to a 2-1 win against the champions-elect in what was just their third home defeat of the season.
Under the cosh and a man down for the entire second half, Leeds were pegged back by Ferran Torres in the 76th minute after Dallas’s opener in the first half, but the Northern Ireland international raced through in the dying embers to slot past Ederson and sent the Whites into delirium.
Guardiola’s side had won their last six across all the competitions before the weekend, but any hopes of City replicating their astonishing 21-game hot streak were dashed by Dallas on their own turf, although they at least travel to the Westfalenstadion having won their last four in the Champions League.
The Citizens are yet to taste defeat in this season’s tournament and kept seven clean sheets in a row before Reus popped up with a goal in the first leg, while they have only ever been knocked out twice in 15 attempts after winning a European first leg, most recently to Monaco in the 2016-17 season.
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In contrast, Dortmund have been knocked out on six of the seven occasions when they have suffered defeat in the first leg, although the only previous meeting between the two sides at the Westfalenstadion ended in a 1-0 win for the Black and Yellow back in 2012.
Former Man City youth product Jadon Sancho will not be reuniting with the Citizens this week as he remains sidelined with a thigh problem, and two new faces in Reus and Mats Hummels have joined the England international in the treatment room.
However, Terzic is optimistic over the pair’s availability for this game after they were forced off in the win over Stuttgart, but it is still too soon for Axel Witsel, Dan-Axel Zagadou or Marcel Schmelzer to feature.
Knauff and Mateu Morey Bauza were both surprise starters at the Etihad, and the former will hope to keep his place after his decisive goal at the weekend, but Lukasz Piszczek and Thomas Meunier could compete with Bauza for the right-back spot.
Haaland has now gone six games without a goal for club and country, but he is yet to draw a blank at the Westfalenstadion in the Champions League.
City’s treatment room has been unoccupied for the past few weeks, but Sergio Aguero and Aymeric Laporte have suffered fresh injuries and are doubtful for the second leg, although the latter is back in training.
As he so often does, Guardiola made a raft of changes for the defeat to Leeds, and two alterations in the rearguard should see Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker return for Nathan Ake and Benjamin Mendy.
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Fernandinho and Oleksandr Zinchenko started in midfield at the weekend but will make way for Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan here, with Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne completing an overhaul in attack.
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Hitz; Meunier, Akanji, Hummels, Guerreiro; Can, Bellingham, Dahoud; Knauff, Haaland, Reus
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Silva, Foden
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