Manchester City draw Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League RO16
By Harsha Movva
Manchester City will face the reigning Portugese champions, Sporting CP in their round of 16 draw in this edition of the UEFA Champions League, ESPN understands.
Having drawn alongside the likes of defending champions of the UEFA Europa league, Villareal CF in the previous draw, UEFA declared the original draw void due to a ‘ technical problem’ during the process.
Manchester City were slotted alongside Paris Saint Germain (France), RB Leipzig (Germany), Club Brugge (Belgium) into Group A. They topped the charts with 12 points ( 4 wins and 2 losses) with PSG holding onto the runner-up spot with a solitary point separating the former semi-final opponents.
The Skyblues have been top-notch this season glazing their way through all the top teams, despite the absence of an out and out striker in their ranks.
The defending Champions are currently relishing an unbeaten run of six matches in the Premier League, owing to which they are seated at the summit of the EPL charts with 38 points from 16 league fixtures. Liverpool and European Champions Chelsea are chasing the top spot with 37 and 36 points respectively.
Guardiola’s false nine approach has paid dividends thus far for the Skyblues, with the likes of Phil Foden, Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus coming to the fore. The Cityzens are said to be in all readiness to land either of Dusan Vlahovic or the Norwegian Goal Machine Erling Haaland in the upcoming transfer window.
If at all City could land the Borussia Dortmund Superstar, it is going to be the pinnacle of all transfers in Football history. With a staggering G/A of 93 in 72 appearances for the Schwarz Gelben, the 21-year-old has been the best striker of his generation by quite some distance.
Having said that, Manchester City could touch down Haaland well in front of the RO16 fixture against Group C runner-up Sporting CP, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with and could well and truly be in the UCL title race alongside the likes of high-flying Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen.
So, will Manchester City go all the way and prize out their missing piece of Silverware this season ?