Manchester City v Schalke : Will City Progress in the Champions League?

Manchester City go into the second leg at the Etihad Stadium of the round of 16 game against Schalke with an important 3:2 lead.

This will be a peculiar game at the Etihad Stadium for Manchester City in the Champions League. The City fans have often struggled to buy into the pomp and circumstance surrounding the competition because of the perceived bias inherent they have felt from UEFA who have sought to restrict the Manchester City owners from investing in their business. The announcement of further investigations by UEFA this week is likely to result in some more booing of the precious Champions League anthem.

This is not to say that City fans do not want to progress in the competition because most of them do and regardless of the booing will be supporting the team fully from kick off. Whilst City club officials and players may be perturbed by the booing associated with an elite competition, they should probably all just enjoy that they have a strongly principled fan base who are committed to the club.

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The Champions League itself may create some feelings amongst the fan base but coupled with what has been an expensive month for many match going fans and it could well mean a reduced number of supporters in the stadium. Despite what the TV stations may like to present many Manchester City fans have prioritised attendance in other competitions over Champions League and this may well be demonstrated for all the empty seat counters out there.

The weather is also likely to play a part for many of us match going fans who will be braving some poor conditions not just in the stadium but during the journey too. I am not going to suggest the weather will effect the result – I will leave that for Liverpool FC – but it may effect the attendance. So this is likely to be a strange match in many ways.

To think the result is a foregone conclusion is a mistake. Whilst Schalke may be on a poor run of form at the moment, this is a knock out game to all intents and purposes and City will be fielding a much changed side due to injury. We have already seen in this seasons competition how small clubs like Manchester United have upset the odds to beat larger teams and go through on the second leg.

We know Schalke are likely to follow a strong physical style and will be looking to earn percentages from free kicks and corners. It is therefore of concern that Vincent Kompany has not trained in the run up to this match meaning it is likely our centre back pairing may be made up from players returning from injury.

Many of our team have looked tired in recent games and there is now only this fixture and an FA Cup game at Swansea on Saturday before a 2 week international football break. I hope with that finish line in sight many of our players will be able to summon the intensity to ensure a healthy victory and continue to build upon our momentum.

Given the importance Guardiola places upon the Champions League and his clear desire to progress as far as possible in the competition I would expect to see the strongest available side fielded – taking into account the tiredness players may be feeling in their legs. I hope we will be in the Champions League Quarter Final Draw on Friday 15 March at 1100 where we hope for another favourable draw.

Predicted Staring XI

Goalkeeper

Ederson

Defence

Danilo, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Oleks Zinchenko

Midfield

Gundogan, David Silva, Phil Foden

Attack

Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling