Manchester City vs Basel LIVE: Champions League round-of-16 second leg!
All the latest from the Champions League fixture at The Etihad
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester City host Basel in the second leg of their last-16 tie, with Pep Guardiola hopeful that the 4-0 lead held by City from their impressive first leg display will be enough to see them through to the Champions League quarter-finals.
City, who could welcome the return of striker Gabriel Jesus after a lengthy lay-off with injury, are in scintillating form both domestically and in Europe, with their three first half goals in the first-leg in Switzerland attesting to their excellent attacking form.
Basel currently sit second in the Swiss Super League, though they were unable to translate their league form into Europe when they took on City, and with Guardiola able to call on a wide array of attacking and defensive recruits coupled with the league being all but confirmed for the Citizens, the Spaniard will be expected to name a full strength side for the Champions League clash on Wednesday.
With an 18 point lead at the top of the table, prior to United playing Crystal Palace on Monday night, City will be looking at the game against Basel as a routine demolition task, and with the possibility of a treble still on the cards for Guardiola’s side, success on Wednesday night is an important part of their 2017/18 quest for outright domestic and European domination.
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Match preview
It’s a big game for...
Sergio Aguero. Despite a four goal haul against Leicester, Aguero has not scored in three of his last four Premier League games. With the impending return to fitness of Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus, Wednesday night is a chance for Aguero to reassure Guardiola that he is the striker to be leading the line for the Citizens, and having passed 200 goals for the Sky Blues last week, Aguero will be hungry for goals against Basel.
Best stat...
Manchester City are the fifth highest scorers in the 2017/18 Champions League, with 18 goals. Of the five highest scoring teams, Liverpool, PSG, Madrid and Bayern, they have the highest number of different goal-scorers.
Remember when…
In the first ever clash between these two sides in the first leg, City tore apart Basel with a 4-0 victory. Relive the goals, moments and action from the game.
Player to watch…
Kevin De Bruyne. City’s Belgian wizard has been in outstanding form in 2017/18, and he has been showing his pedigree on the stage of Champions League football too. With seven goals and 16 assists in the league, De Bruyne has the ability to shine for Guardiola’s side, and with a habit of stepping up in the big games, Wednesday could yet mark another stunning performance from what has been undoubtedly City’s player of the season.
Past meetings…
- Basel 0 Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 2, B Silva 1, Aguero 1), Champions League, February 2018
Form guide…
- Manchester City: WWLWWW
- Basel: WLWLLL
Odds…
- Manchester City to win: 1/7
- Basel to win: 8/1
- Draw: 18/1
Tottenham lead at the break thanks to Son's strike, but Juventus are still rueing Szymon Marciniak's decision not to award them an early penalty.
At least the players took it well.
SECOND HALF KICK-OFF: Juventus restart matters at Wembley as Darren Fletcher informs us that this is the first time that the Serie A side have been behind in any game since November. How will they respond to finding themselves in these unchartered waters? We'll find out over the next 45 minutes.
49 mins: Are the Juve players showing signs of indiscipline? Seconds after Blaise Matuidi had hacked down Ben Davies, Medhi Benatia becomes the third visitor to go into the referee's notebook for a nasty studs-up challenge on Dele Alli. He's another who will miss the quarter-final first leg should Juventus pull off what is beginning to look an unlikely recovery.
53 mins: Another foul, another booking. An old-school Italian lunge from Giorgio Chiellini takes out Dele Alli just as Spurs threaten to launch a threatening attack. The odds on the visitors finishing this game with 11 men on the pitch are lengthening.
56 mins: Guess what? Yellow card. After finding himself on the receiving end of a couple of hefty whacks, Dele Alli takes some retribution by catching Sami Khedira on the boot with his studs.
57 mins: There's the momentary danger of some football breaking out...until Barzagli fouls Son.
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