Manchester City vs. RB Leipzig preview: Team news and predicted lineups
Here is our preview, including predicted line-ups, for Tuesday's Champions League round of 16 second leg clash between Manchester City and RB Leipzig.
| Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Leipzig coach Marco Rose was pleased with his side's defensive performance in the first leg, but wants his side to be "more active" tonight.
"We played Man City three weeks ago. We know what we're up against - it's nothing new. City will be looking to improve on the details because we didn't give them many chances in Leipzig. But we were too passive in the first half and didn't know what to do when we had the ball," Rose said.
He added that Leipzig will need to play their best game of the season if they are to progress to the next round. One of their most important tasks will be to keep Erling Haaland quiet.
"We all know that Erling is exceptionally talented. We defended him well in the first leg, but you'll never be able to shut him down completely," said Rose at his pre-match press conference.
"He is one of the best number 9s in the world. Strikers like Erling can play many roles on the pitch, whether it's with his back to goal or as a target man in the box. We have to be extremely alert.
Although his side will be overwhelming favorites, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is wary of Leipzig's strengths.
"When I saw the draw, I said Leipzig are a really good team," he said.
"Napoli, Real Madrid, Liverpool - they are really good too - every team at this stage has qualities and strengths.
"We have to impose ourselves and win the game. It's simple, not how many goals, it's just to win the game and that's what we have to do."
Leipzig will still be without a number of key players, with the likes of Peter Gulacsi, Xaver Schlager and Christopher Nkunku sidelined. Guardiola, on the other hand, has a full squad to choose from.
Rose is likely to make two changes to the side that beat Gladbach 3-0 at the weekend, with Marcel Halstenberg and Kevin Kampl expected to come in at the expense of David Raum and Amadou Haidara.
Check out our predicted lineups here.
