Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid UCL Match Preview

Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid UCL Match Preview

This will be the first ever meeting between Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in European competition, but the fourth between the respective managers of the two clubs – Pep Guardiola (W2) and Diego Simeone (W1).

Atlético Madrid won 1-0 against Manchester United in March, eliminating the Red Devils from this season’s UEFA Champions League. Should they win this game, it will be the first time they have won on consecutive away trips to face English in European competition. 

Manchester City have won three of their four meetings with Spanish clubs in the UEFA Champions League under Pep Guardiola (L1), with those being the most recent three. Their only meeting with a Spanish side in the knockout stages of the competition under Guardiola came in 2019-20, as they eliminated Real Madrid in the Round of 16 (4-2 on aggregate).

Atlético Madrid will be the first side to face both Manchester United and Manchester City in the knockout stages of a European competition in a season since Juventus in the 1976-77 UEFA Cup – the Italian side would go on to progress from both of those ties, before winning the competition overall that season.

Manchester City have only lost one of their last nine UEFA Champions League games beyond the group stage (W7 D1), with that defeat coming against Chelsea in last season’s final. Indeed, since Pep Guardiola’s first season in 2016-17, the Citizens have the highest win percentage of any team in the competition in non-group stage games (64% - 14/22).

Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid side eliminated Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League (2-2 on aggregate), progressing on away goals. Across the two legs, Atlético averaged just 27% possession and scored their two goals from 18 shots, while Bayern netted the same number of goals from 53 attempts.

Kevin De Bruyne could make his 50th UEFA Champions League appearance for Manchester City (currently on 49). Since his first season at the club in 2015-16, he has made more assists than any other player for an English club (17) in the competition.

Antoine Griezmann is Atlético Madrid’s top scorer in the UEFA Champions League, with 25 goals in 55 appearances. The Frenchman has been directly involved in six goals in his last six games in the competition, scoring four times and providing two assists.

Only Vinícius Júnior (44) has been directly involved in more shots than Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez (42 – 29 shots, 13 chances created) in the UEFA Champions League this season. Indeed, Mahrez has been directly involved in more goals than any other player for Pep Guardiola’s side (7 – six goals, one assist).

Atlético Madrid’s Jan Oblak has kept 30 clean sheets in 67 appearances in the UEFA Champions League – no goalkeeper has made more since the start of the 2014-15 season; Oblak’s first in the competition. Manchester City, meanwhile, have only failed to score in one of their 28 home games in the UEFA Champions League under Pep Guardiola, averaging 2.8 goals per game at the Etihad Stadium (excluding qualifying phase).