Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid Preview

Manchester City will welcome Atletico Madrid to the Etihad in the first leg of their 2021/22 Champions League quarter-finals round.

The Cityzens will look to draw first blood in this mouthwatering clash of two sides at the opposite ends of footballing style. While Pep Guardiola is known for his expansive and good on-the-eye style of football, his opposite number Diego Simeone is famed for his rigid yet effective approach to football. Irrespective of style, both sides will be looking for a win and whoever wins this first leg will have the advantage going into the second leg.

And so Guardiola will be hoping that his team can repeat their feat in the first leg of their previous round. The hosts qualified for this stage of the competition by beating Sporting Lisbon 5-0 on aggregate, thanks to a 5-0 win in the first leg in Lisbon.

Meanwhile, they come into this tie on the back of a 2-0 win over Burnley – a result that kept them at the top of the PL table, one point ahead of the unrelenting Liverpool.

After the heartbreak they suffered in the final last season, they will be desperate to make amends this time. Also, the fact that they still have the chance of winning a historic treble will be motivation for them as they seek to avoid the fate of their city cousins Manchester United who were thrown out in the last round by Simeone’s side.

The Spanish giants have won their last six games in all competitions and are unbeaten in their last eight competitive games (W7, D1).

They come into this tie on the back of a 4-1 win over Alaves thanks to braces from João Felix and Luis Suarez. That win made it six consecutive league wins for Simeone’s side and sent them into third place in the La Liga table.

Their last trip to Manchester produced a memorable result for them as they beat Manchester United to qualify for this round. With that result in their bag, they will come into this tie confident of producing another good result.

Also, given that their hosts have failed to win two of their last three home games (D1, L1), Atletico will fancy their chances of getting a result in this first leg.