Manchester City Learns About Their Champions League Clash
By Swayam Ghosh
Manchester City becomes the latest victim of Germany’s Covid-19 restrictions, as their upcoming clash against Borussia Monchengladbach gets shifted to Puskas Arena, Budapest.
UEFA, the governing body of UEFA Champion’s League, the most coveted trophy in the world of European football, said:
"More from Champions LeagueMy Manchester City UCL Group Stage predictionsManchester City’s Submitted UCL Squad ConfirmedMan City’s 23/24 UCL group decidedUCL Draw : Who are Man City’s possible opponents?Manchester City’s busy transfer week rounded-up“UEFA can confirm that the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach and Manchester City FC will now take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. UEFA would like to thank Borussia VfL 1900 Monchengladbach and Manchester City for their close cooperation and support, as well as the Hungarian Football Federation for their assistance and agreeing to host the match in question.”"
The match is scheduled to be held on 25th February, with the kick-off scheduled at 21:00 CET.
The return leg will be played as per the original schedule in the Etihad Stadium after a fortnight on 17th March with the kick-off scheduled at 21:00 CET.
It would be a tough test for Guardiola’s men, as they come up against a thrilling Mönchengladbach side. Mönchengladbach qualified from a very tough group beating Inter Milan and Real Madrid comprehensively in what seemed to be a roller-coaster series of games.
Manchester City qualified excitingly by characteristically blowing off their opponents in the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition. They won 5 of their 6 games in their group stages scoring 13 goals in the process.
However, the head-to-head record speaks heavily for the Blues as they have never lost against the German outfit having won thrice and drawn once in their 4 meetings. Man City has scored an impressive 11 goals, conceding only 4 in all of those games.
Manchester City do start out as the favorites ahead of the crunch tie but the boys in blue need to be at their absolute best if they are to avoid yet another UEFA Champions League knockout upset. The former Premier League champions have been playing some of their best football in recent weeks and will be required to do so, if the the Cityzens are to progress to the next round in the UCL, to make their case for a maiden UEFA Champions League title much stronger.