This week UEFA Champions League will continue with quarterfinal battles. On Tuesday in England, the "Man City" team will demonstrate their mastery against "Monaco", while Leverkusen will try to surprise Madrid's "Atletico" in their match.
"Man City" - "Monaco"
Coach Josep Guardiola will try to extend his dominance in the strongest club tournament on the Old Continent.
The Catalan has managed to reach at least the Champions League semi-finals seven times in a row (won in 2009 and 2011), as well as triumph in 1992 as a player.
Meanwhile, the history of the "city" team is not as rich, and they will strive to reach the quarterfinals for only the second time in the team's history.
The English opponents will be the leaders of the "Ligue 1" championship, "Monaco", who have already defeated the representatives of the "Premier" league twice this season - the "Tottenham" team was beaten twice with the same score of 2:1.
The "red and white" strength was experienced by the London "Arsenal" club a couple of years ago, conceding three goals in the first leg of the quarterfinals at the "Emirates" stadium (1:3).
Injuries
"Man City" team will be without injured defender Vincent Kompany, long-term absentees Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus, but Gael Clichy is expected to return to the field.
However, J. Guardiola will have to decide on the goalkeeper and choose between Willy Caballero and Claudio Bravo.
The representatives of the "Monaco" team assure that all their players are healthy.
Projected starting lineups:
"Man City": Caballero; Fernandinho, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov; Silva, Toure, De Bruyne; Sterling, Agüero, Sane.
"Monaco": Subasic; Sidibe, Glik, Raggi, Mendy; Silva, Fabinho, Bakayoko, Lemar; Germain, Falcao.
Sky Sports expert prediction:
"We know how dangerous the 'Monaco' team is right now. They have lightning-fast counterattacks, and they have already scored 76 goals in the 'Ligue 1' championship.
Everyone is talking about their forward Kylian Mbappe-Lottin, but we will see what he will do in an important match.
More confidence is resonating from the 'Man City' camp. Of course, the defense of the 'city' team is still a question mark, but they are trying to improve and we saw it in the match against 'Bournemouth' (2:0).
If Guardiola manages to coordinate all the elements, he could even win the Champions League, and I am convinced that this year the 'city' team will go far.
I think forward Sergio Aguero will have his say, as he has regained good form and knows he must keep it if he doesn't want to sit on the bench again.
I predict a 'Man City' victory by several goals, and the first goal will probably be scored by Kevin de Bruyne, who usually shines in important matches."
Guardiola on Monaco: "I am really impressed by how good they are. The full-backs play like wingers - they are killers in the box."
