Real Madrid hope to buck trend against PSG, Man City to complete formality – Champions League in Opta numbers

By Sports Desk March 09, 2022

The two games in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday both feature favourites to go all the way in this season's competition. One is finely poised, the other... not so much.

Paris Saint-Germain nicked a one goal advantage late on in the home leg against Real Madrid but travel to the Santiago Bernabeu with plenty of work still to do.

Manchester City dispatched Sporting CP with ease in Lisbon to make the return fixture surely nothing more than a procession.

Here are some Opta facts ahead of both encounters to leave the mouth watering further ahead of the clash in Spain, and maybe even give the most optimistic of Sporting fans the slimmest glimmer of hope.

Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain

PSG were on top for much of the first leg in Paris, but it took a moment of genius from Kylian Mbappe in stoppage time to seal a 1-0 win.

That might be enough though as Madrid have been eliminated from nine of their last 10 knockout ties in the Champions League when losing the first leg, with the exception being a 3-2 aggregate victory over Wolfsburg in the 2015-16 quarter-finals.

However, PSG have been eliminated from three of their eight Champions League knockout ties when winning the first leg – only Barcelona (four) and Madrid (six) have been eliminated in this fashion more often.

Lionel Messi has failed to score in his last 695 minutes of action against Los Blancos in all competitions since scoring for Barcelona in May 2018. The Argentine had his penalty saved against them in the first leg, which was his fifth penalty failure in the Champions League (from 23 taken, excluding shoot-outs).

Mauricio Pochettino's men are winless in their last four away matches in the Champions League (D2 L2). They last had a longer run without a win on the road in the competition between September 2000 and October 2012 (10 games).

Karim Benzema, meanwhile, has scored 12 goals in his last 11 Champions League home games for Madrid. Overall, he has netted 64 goals for the Spanish side in the competition, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo (105) and Raul (66).

Mbappe, who has been linked with a move to Madrid and may well be an injury doubt for Wednesday, has been directly involved in 18 goals in his last 13 appearances in the Champions League, scoring 13 and assisting a further five.

 

Manchester City v Sporting CP

City eased to a 5-0 win in Portugal, the joint-biggest winning margin away from home in the knockout stages in Champions League history. The largest first-leg deficit to be overturned in the competition is four goals (PSG 4-0, Barcelona 6-1 in 2016-17).

Pep Guardiola's team have won their last six home matches in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and could tie a record that has been reached on five occasions previously (Bayern Munich – April 2002, Milan – April 2006, Manchester United – March 2009, Bayern – February 2017 and Madrid – February 2018).

Kevin De Bruyne – who scored twice in a 4-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday – could make his 50th Champions League appearance for City. The Belgian has been directly involved in 27 goals in his previous 49 (10 goals and 17 assists).

Riyad Mahrez has scored six Champions League goals this season and needs one more to set a record for most goals in a single season in the competition by a City player.

 

Sporting, on the other hand, have lost all three of their matches in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, conceding 17 goals in total (5.7 per game).

Ruben Amorim's side have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 13 away matches in the Champions League, conceding 31 goals in the process (2.4 per game). This is already the longest run of away matches without a clean sheet by a Portuguese side in the competition.

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    Khadija Shaw opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Ellen Wangerheim restored parity shortly after the interval with a finish from close range. 

    But Shaw continued her fine start to the campaign, scoring the winner to become City's all-time top scorer in the competition, surpassing Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie (both six). 

    The result saw City make it to the last eight of the competition for the first time since 2021, though the encounter was far from comfortable at the Tele2 Arena on Thursday. 

    Hammarby ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.15 compared to the visitors' 1.07, despite both sides having 14 shots throughout the match. 

    However, City maintained their unbeaten record against Swedish sides in the competitor (W6), and Taylor was proud of his side's "gritty" display in Stockholm. 

    “I’m really pleased. It was about qualification for us tonight," Taylor said. 

    "There were a couple of ways we could do it. Obviously, we knew a point was enough, but I don’t think the players were thinking that way.

    “It was a really gritty performance on a really difficult on this pitch. It probably doesn’t look like that for the viewers at home watching it.

    "But it was a really lively surface and we worked so hard.

    “I felt there were some areas we could control the play better. I have to give credit to Hammarby, they were really aggressive.

    "The referee was on our side a little bit in the first half and maybe not in the second.

    “I’m really pleased and proud of the players, they really dug in tonight. You come away from a hostile environment with a win.”

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    The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.

    The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.

    There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.

    Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.

    “Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.  

    “That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.

    “Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.  

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    Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.

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    Ramos, who scored 14 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions in his debut season for PSG last year, has not featured for the Parisiens since their 4-1 win over Le Havre in August.

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    "As for when he is available (to play) we do not know. We will see in training, he is doing really well and is in full training."

    Following Friday's fixture against Toulouse, PSG travel to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League, hoping to ignite their European campaign. 

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    "You mustn't only think about the game against Toulouse but also the workload for players with their national teams," he said. 

    "So we will make decisions based on what we think. We want to win against Toulouse, which is our main target."

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    "In theory, it was nothing serious. I don't think it was a big issue and these things happen during the season," Luis Enrique said.

    "It is normal with such a busy schedule, he should be available to play."

    While Toulouse sit 10th in the league standings, they will provide PSG with a difficult test. They come into the game on the back of three consecutive wins, all without conceding a goal. 

    PSG have also not won any of their last two meetings against Toulouse (D1 L1), and could go three games without a win against the Violets for the second time in the 21st century after a winless streak between December 2007 to October 2009 (five). 

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