Man City vs RB Leipzig LIVE! Champions League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction today
A place in the Champions League quarter-finals is up for grabs at the Etihad Stadium tonight. Manchester City and Leipzig clash in the second leg of their last-16 tie, having battled to a 1-1 draw in Germany three weeks ago. In a proverbial game of two halves at the Red Bull Arena, Riyad Mahrez gave Pep Guardiola’s initially dominant side the lead before Josko Gvardiol headed in an equaliser 20 minutes from time.
City will be considered firm favourites to get the job done on home soil tonight having won 17 of 19 games in front of their own fans so far this term, but there will be no shortage of nerves as the reigning Premier League champions again feel the pressure of trying to finally end their hoodoo in Europe’s elite club competition. They remain right in the battle for further top-flight glory and FA Cup success, yet Guardiola accepts that it is their Champions League record on which he will ultimately be judged.
Marco Rose’s visitors currently sit third in the Bundesliga with only two losses since September, but are without some key players this evening including Chelsea-bound top scorer Christopher Nkunku. Follow Man City vs RB Leipzig live below!
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Kampl replaces Silva in only Leipzig change
Leipzig show four changes from the first leg last month, with Benjamin Henrichs, David Raum, Amadou Haidara and Kevin Kampl all coming in.
Lukas Klostermann is a substitute again after battling illness, while Marcel Halstenberg and Andre Silva drop to the bench with Xaver Schlager out injured.
Kampl for Silva is Marco Rose’s only change from the team that cruised past Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
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Foden and Mahrez on bench as De Bruyne starts
So Pep Guardiola shows just the one change from the side that beat Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Phil Foden is the man that drops to the bench to accomodate Kevin De Bruyne’s return to the starting XI, with first-leg scorer Riyad Mahrez also staying among the substitutes.
That is also the case for Kyle Walker.
Walker and Mahrez are the two to drop out from the first leg, replaced by John Stones and De Bruyne.
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RB Leipzig lineup
Starting XI: Blaswich, Henrichs, Orban, Gvardiol, Raum, Laimer, Haidara, Szoboszlai, Kampl, Forsberg, Werner
Subs: Simakan, Olmo, Poulsen, Nyland, Klostermann, Andre Silva, Halstenberg, Ba, Nickisch
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Man City lineup
Starting XI: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Perrone, Foden, Palmer, Lewis
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Official lineups imminent
Official team news from the Etihad will be on the way very shortly.
Stay tuned!
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Guardiola ‘admires’ Leipzig progress: ‘I am a big fan’
Leipzig currently sit third in the Bundesliga, five points behind second-place Borussia Dortmund – whom they face again in a cup quarter-final next month – and seven off leaders Bayern Munich.
They had been on an 18-match unbeaten streak until recently and have only lost twice across all competitions since September, with new boss Marco Rose adding key consistency after Domenico Tedesco’s rather inconsistent tenure.
Guardiola is certainly a fan of the way they play.
“They are so aggressive in the high pressing and have an incredible build-up from the keeper – eight players inside, two incredible wide full-backs,” he said.
“You close inside and they go to the full-backs. When you defend outside they have more players inside. It’s so difficult to control, you have to find the right tempo for pressing.
“I admire a lot what Leipzig have done. When I was in Munich they were in the second division so I could not face them. I am a big fan of what they do.”
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An early look at the scene outside the Etihad on a huge Champions League night…
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Guardiola: My City tenure will be judged on Champions League
Manchester City’s unprecedented success under Pep Guardiola has seen them win four Premier League titles, one FA Cup and four League Cups in seven years.
However, the Champions League remains the one major competition that continues to elude them after a runners-up berth to Chelsea in Porto in 2021 and painful semi-final exits in both 2016 and 2022.
Guardiola won the tournament twice in charge at Barcelona and was criticised for not lifting it again during his three years at Bayern Munich, regardless of his hat-trick of Bundesliga titles.
And the Spaniard begrudgingly accepts that it is in the Champions League that he will again ultimately be judged at City despite achieving scores of other major silverware.
“Yes. That doesn’t mean I agree with that but, absolutely, we’ll be judged for that competition,” he told reporters yesterday.
“My first Champions League game here (in 2016), they asked, ‘Are you here to win the Champions League?’
“If I was manager for Real Madrid I could understand, but I accept it. As much as we go through, it’s not going to change that.”
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Guardiola: City must make adjustments after first leg
Pep Guardiola was coy on the changes that Manchester City need to make tonight after something of a game of two halves in Germany last month.
City were dominant in the first half at Red Bull Arena and Riyad Mahrez deservedly fired them ahead after a defensive mistake had been exploited by Ilkay Gundogan, but they could not find another way through despite feeling they should have had a penalty for a potential last-gasp handball by Benjamin Henrichs.
Leipzig were far better after the interval and deserved their headed equaliser through the in-demand Josko Gvardiol.
“I don’t pay any attention to what happened there,” Guardiola said of the first leg in his pre-match press conference on Monday.
“In the first half we were better, in the second half they were better. We’ve tried to figure out what to do, adjust a few things for more control and play a bit better.
“It’s a knockout game, maybe we need more. The game will dictate what we do.”
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Man City vs RB Leipzig prediction
While City haven’t been at their excellent best this season, you’d have to back them to get the job done at home tonight.
Manchester City to win, 2-1.
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