The Etihad Stadium is ready for Manchester City to host AS Monaco in the Champions League in a match that may be more important than almost any other in the Round of 16. Both Manchester City and Monaco have dreams and goals that go far past this round — but only one of the teams can actually advance past this tie.
Manchester City vs. AS Monaco lineups: Both teams set up to play fast
This match looks like it could be played at a high pace.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
To that end, both teams will be eager to take any advantage they can out of this first leg, and have set themselves up to play as fast as possible because of it. For City, that means Leroy Sané and Raheem Sterling on the wings, a duo that’s given EPL teams fits over the last few months. For Monaco, it means a slight change in formation to help get Kylian Mbappe on the pitch, with Thomas Lemar sliding inside to support Radamel Falcao as a No. 10. Monaco definitely look set to play on the counter, but it will be a counter so quick that City will have to take it seriously whenever they lose the ball.
Interestingly, Manchester are actually playing their backup keeper in this match, with Willy Caballero between the sticks instead of Claudio Bravo. That’s something we’ve been seeing more and more of recently, with Bravo sliding into such abysmal form that Pep Guardiola seems to no longer trust him. That could be something for Monaco to try and exploit, so take extra care to watch how the visitors approach things in front of goal in this match.
Manchester City: Willy Caballero; Fernandinho, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, Bacary Sagna; David Silva, Yaya Touré, Kevin De Bruyne; Leroy Sané, Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling
AS Monaco: Danijel Subašić; Benjamin Mendy, Kamil Glik, Andrea Raggi, Djibril Sidibe; João Moutinho, Fabinho; Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva; Radamel Falcao
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