After taking a commanding 2-0 lead with two away goals in the first leg, Manchester City easily finished off their Round of 16 tie against Borussia Mönchengladbach from the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. İlkay Gündoğan and Kevin De Bruyne helped the Citizens hit the ground running with two goals in the first 20 minutes to effectively put the tie beyond all doubt, as the German side would have needed a massive four-goal shock to change the result.
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City are now back in the quarterfinal, a stage they have not advanced past under the stewardship of manager Pep Guardiola. This team will look to change that fate, especially after disappointing performances against inferior opposition in the exits to Tottenham Hotspur and Olympique Lyon over the last two seasons. The other quarterfinalists include Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Real Madrid, Liverpool, PSG, and one of Bayern Munich or Lazio as well as the winner of Chelsea and Atlético Madrid.
City’s quadruple hopes remain alive, however, this task in practice seems nearly impossible. Other than facing familiar opposition in Porto from this year’s group stage, City are in all likelihood set to tangle with a real giant of European football, and it will be their task to repeat their impressive showing against Real Madrid in last season’s Round of 16.
This win over Mönchengladbach was a simple, straightforward, and excellent Round of 16 performance. City’s problems have arrived at the next stage, but it is worth appreciating that despite a relative easy draw, a team can only beat the opposition in front of them, and City did just that. The real work begins now, and it will be Guardiola’s task to get it right tactically for arguably the most important European tie of his tenure at the Etihad Stadium.