Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City

Estadio Wanda Metropolitano is the venue as Atletico Madrid and Manchester City go head-to-head in the return leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. Man City’s 1-0 first-leg triumph leaves both sides with significant chances of reaching the semi-finals.

A dismal 1-0 defeat away to La Liga strugglers Mallorca at the weekend that followed up Atletico’s downing at the Etihad means Diego Simeone’s men have attempted just a single shot on target across their last two competitive outings. Now back at the Wanda Metropolitano, where they’ve won their last three competitive matches, ‘Los Rojiblancos will be looking to improve their disastrous home form in the Champions League. Indeed, the reigning Spanish champions are winless in their last seven home matches in Europe’s elite competition (D4, L3). Yet, Atletico find themselves in familiar territory, having come from behind to progress from two of the last three Champions League knock-out ties after losing the first leg away from home. Goals could be at a premium, nonetheless, with four of Atletico’s last five competitive games yielding the same 1-0 scoreline (W3, L2).

On the other hand, Manchester City shared the spoils with Liverpool in their action-packed 2-2 draw at the weekend to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches (W6, D3). But a trip to Spain could stir some unpleasant memories in the travelling camp, as the ‘Cityzens’ have only won three of their 11 previous visits to the country (D1, L7). That said, Pep Guardiola’s men have gone unbeaten in their last 12 competitive away fixtures (W10, D2), keeping eight clean sheets in this period. Guardiola himself laments an indifferent away record against Atletico as a manager (W3, L3), highlighting the unpredictability of this contest. However, Man City come into this encounter after winning their last four Champions League away games in the competition’s knock-out stages.