Schalke FC v Manchester City : Champions League Preview

Manchester City have now reached the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League for only the 6th time in their history and face Schalke FC in the first leg this week.

Manchester City are continually criticised for not having a rich history of European competition, having only achieved a single trophy to date in their history but their remarkable progress in recent seasons tends to get overlooked. This is the 6th straight season in which we have achieved at least the Round of 16 in the Champions League and we are the only English who can boast such a good current record.

Of the 5 times we have previously been in the Round of 16 we have got beyond this stage only twice. In 2015/16 we eventually reached the semi final and were beaten by Real Madrid. Last season we were eliminated by a Liverpool side in the Quarter Finals. Right now City stand on the cusp of taking another step in European competition and cementing our position amongst the elite of UEFA registered clubs.

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• My Manchester City UCL Group Stage predictions
• Manchester City’s Submitted UCL Squad Confirmed
• Man City’s 23/24 UCL group decided
• UCL Draw : Who are Man City’s possible opponents?
• Manchester City’s busy transfer week rounded-up

The game against Schalke will be a hard match. They currently sit in 14th spot in the Bundesliga having largely under performed in domestic competition. They are on a poor run of domestic league form having won just once in their last 5 matches, drawing and losing two each. Schalke are a powerful side who seem to rely heavily on set pieces including long throws. They are looking for corners and free kicks as their best chances to score against Manchester City.

Given how Schalke like to play it is fair to say we may be in a tough match. They play in a way which we can find difficult to control. It will therefore be important we take our chances in these matches to ensure we are not susceptible to last minute corners.

Guardiola is likely to name a side capable of both withstanding the Schalke onslaught and of catching the team on the break. It will be important to do our best to try and create enough of a lead to make the second leg a formality as it will be sandwiched in between difficult looking fixtures.

Benjamin Mendy, Eliaquim Mangala and Vincent Kompany have all returned to first team training this week, leaving Claudio Bravo as the only remaining long term injury absentee. Although it is reported that both Gabriel Jesus and John Stones picked up injuries in the Newport game. Jesus is reported to be suffering a hamstring injury which may keep him out for a few weeks and Stones has an abdominal injury.

I suspect Guardiola will take few risks against the Schalke side and there will be few surprises if any on the team sheet or with the formation.

Man City Square Predicted Starting XI

Goalkeeper

Ederson

Defence

Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi, Aymeric Laporte, Oleks Zinchenko

Midfield

Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne

Attack

Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling