Prediction and odds for the game: Manchester City (4/11) vs Atletico Madrid (8/1)
We are backing under 2.5 goals scored at evens
When: Tuesday 5 April 2022, Kick-off 20:00
Where: The Etihad Stadium
On Tuesday night, Manchester City hosts Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Manchester City
The Citizens are favourites to progress from this tie and the favourites to win the competition, despite never lifting the famous European trophy.
Pep Guardiola’s team heads into this clash on the back of just one defeat in their previous 21 matches in all competitions. Last time out, City recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Burnley in the Premier League. The game saw City keep their third clean sheet in their last four matches in all competitions.
The Citizens have won four of their last six games in the Champions League. In the last-16, the men from Manchester recorded a 5-0 aggregate win over Portuguese outfit Sporting CP.
City have been strong on home soil in European football’s elite competition, as they are unbeaten in their last ten matches on home soil, having recorded nine wins in the process. A 0-0 draw against Sporting in their last home game in the Champions League ended a nine-match winning run at the Etihad Stadium in the competition.
Atletico Madrid
The reigning Spanish champions have not been at the same level as last season. However, Diego Simeone’s team seems to have found form of late in the Spanish top-flight.
In fact, a 4-1 weekend victory over Alaves means that Atletico are now eight games unbeaten in all competitions, having recorded seven victories in the process. The run has moved the visitors up the table and they are now third place in La Liga, only behind second-place Barcelona courtesy of an inferior head-to-head record.
When it comes to the Champions League, Atletico do not have a great record of late, as Los Rojiblancos have won just three of their last ten matches in European football’s elite competition.
However, the men from Madrid are unbeaten in three matches in the Champions Leaguer, having recorded a 2-1 aggregate win over Manchester City’s arch-rivals Manchester United in the last-16. Simeone and co. may find that winning in the blue half of Manchester is slightly more difficult than winning at Old Trafford, though.
Conclusion
This could be one of the most fascinating Champions League quarter-final ties between two in-form teams. City are the favourites, but Atletico will not be an easy opponent for Guardiola’s team to overcome, as they proved against Manchester United.
Our tips are from the goal market. Although both teams have major attacking potential, both teams have been strong in defence, so our first tip is for under 2.5 goals to be scored. The other tip we recommend is the draw/Manchester City, as Atletico will sit deep and City may take a while to break down the Spanish champions.
Our Tips: We are backing under 2.5 goals scored at evens and/or draw/Manchester City at odds of 7/2. (All odds are taken from Bet365).
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Who will gain a vital first-leg advantage in this clash the men from Manchester or the men from Madrid?
