The turning points in the season have come, the candidates for all the trophies in the season stand out, including the most important one – the Champions League. Chelsea were defeated by Dortmund, Tottenham by Milan, Liverpool suffered a debacle against Real Madrid, so it came to Manchester City to defend the honor of English football tonight in Leipzig (11:00 PM EAT).A big handicap for Josep Guardiola’s team is the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, who is ill, so together with Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, he will miss tonight’s clash at the Red Bull Arena. While it’s safe to say that the Cityzens’ game almost exclusively depends on arguably the best playmaker on the planet at the moment, Manchester City must show everyone that they are fully ready and able to impose as one of the main contenders for the trophy.Thank God we don’t play Real Madrid every weekFor seven years, Guardiola has been under so much pressure that he completely changed his view of the entire situation and his attitude towards the trophy he won twice with Barcelona. After such success, he failed to lift it with Bayern or Manchester City, where he is in his seventh season. Although he says that he looks forward to every new participation in the elite competition, probably only he knows how he feels, considering that he won the last trophy in this competition way back in 2011.”If my career ended tomorrow I would be more than blessed and grateful for what I’ve done with Barcelona, Bayern and here at City in European competitions. I couldn’t have expected to have the career I’ve had. Not only because of the success we’ve had achieved as a whole, but because of the way we played. I love it, I can’t ask for more. We want to do our best. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. In the end, the destiny is already written. Everyone thinks it’s a disaster if don’t win some trophies. I don’t know if everyone sets this prospect for themselves. I don’t want to set it. I’m blessed to be here. When I came to City I never thought that we had to win the Premier League every year or that I had to win three or four Champions Leagues. Only Real Madrid can do that, the others can’t,” said Guardiola.Spalletti is wise and cautious: ‘The biggest enemy is to think it’s done’Manchester City first struggled for a long time to reach the very end of the competition. They played in the semi-finals in the 2015/2016 season, when they were eliminated by Real Madrid, and the closest point to the trophy was in 2021, when in their historic final in Porto the Cityzens were defeated by Chelsea (0-1), courtesy of Kai Havertz in the 42nd minute. Last season, Guardiola’s team was once again defeated by the powerful Real Madrid, while this year the Cityzens still have no defeat, as they came out of Group G as first seeded with a score of four wins and two draws. On the other hand, Leipzig were second in the group with Real Madrid, Shakhtar and Celtic.”This is a fantastic competition. I love it. We love being here, it’s a privilege. I’ve always had that feeling. I don’t know how far we’ll go, but we’re already here at this stage, every year it’s getting harder to qualify for the Champions League. It’s difficult to get through the group, you know how many good teams there can be. We dream of going forward, playing a good game and going to the quarter-finals. Of course, it’s an international competition, we get on a plane, dress up and go to Europe to show our game on new stadium and get to know a new culture,” added Guardiola.Manchester City wana lengo moja tu usiku wa leo, kulipiza kisasi dhidi ya RB Leipzig ugenini kwenye mchuano wa mkondo wa kwanza wa Klabu bingwa Uropa raundi ya 16 bora. Watatoboa ama Leipzig watawakazia? Kuwa Mshindi! Cheza sasa 👉 https://t.co/ymIvwDYBnq#UEFAChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/MDFl4oHfGZ— Mozzart Bet Kenya (@mozzartbetkenya) February 22, 2023 The Manchester City strategist was heavily criticized for the setback against Nottingham Forest (1-1) which followed a coup at the top of the Premier League and a big win over Arsenal. The loudest was Thierry Henry, who thinks the Cityzens are quite predictable in attack when playing with Erling Haaland. However, the Catalan coach has a different view.”Whether we will be less predictable does not depend on Haaland, but in the sense of how we can finish attacks in the final third. To be less predictable we need more runners behind De Bruyne or Gundogan, so that the wing players come into the box more often “, Guardiola tried to explain.Dani Olmo has been out of action for some time in Leipzig, Peter Gulaszi and Abdou Diallo have already been written off. At the same time, the star of the team, Christopher Nkunku, will most likely start the game from the bench, although he played in the last 20 minutes in the Bundesliga victory over Wolfsburg (3-0). That match brought an extra dose of self-confidence to Marco Rose’s team before tonight’s clash.”I have a lot of confidence in my team. We want to compete against one of the best teams in the world, play and look for our chances. City are a top team with an outstanding coach. I told my boys that we will have to struggle but we are not looking at these games as torture, we have to enjoy them already. We will have to be able to close the open spaces and prevent them from building up their play. We must have fun, enjoy ourselves, and defend and win the ball. Then it’s all about creating and taking the chances that we get. We want to compete with them and prove that we have a good team with good players, who can play at the top level,” said Rose.[🎥] Pep Guardiola demonstrating the illness of Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte 😭🤣. #ManCity pic.twitter.com/g0PDg6otT3— City Zone (@City_Zone_) February 21, 2023 Like any opponent, Leipzig are most afraid of goal-scoring machine Erling Haaland.”We want to be brave and solve problems – Haaland is one of them. I want us to operate as a team. Haaland has improved a lot in the game, technically and with his movements. Now he plays for one of the best teams in the world and is a world-class player. If he sees the goal, he wants to shake that net madly. He is always there for the team, he works for the team,” added Rose.Interestingly, last season, Leipzig defeated Manchester City at home (2-1) in the last round of the group stage of the competition, but at that point Guardiola’s team had already secured the first place in Group A. Previously at the Etihad, a rather exciting 6-3 match won by the Cityzens, although it should be noted that by the 75th minute it was 4-3, and that there was a fairly open fight for a long time, in which the German team succumbed in the end.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUERound of 16 – first legTuesdayLiverpool – Real Madrid 2-5 (2-2)/Nunez 4, Salah 14 – Vinicius 21, 36, Militao 48, Benzema 55, 67/Eintr.Frankfurt – Napoli 0-2 (0-1)/Osimhen 40, Di Lorenzo 65/Wednesday23.00: (5.00) RB Leipzig (3.70) Man.City (1.80)23.00: (1.80) Inter (3.60) Porto (5.20)***odds are subject to change
