Basel – Manchester City

Basel faces Manchester City in a first 1/8-final leg from the UEFA Champions League. What can we expect from this game? Let’s have a look at it.

For Basel it is a strange season. The Swiss giant qualified for the 1/8-finals of the Champions League, winning 2nd place in their group, but they are struggling in the Swiss Super League. Right now Basel are 2nd in the domestic league, trailing behind the leader Young Boys. This is a rare case, because they are usually dominating the league with an ease.

Meanwhile Basel finished 2nd in a group with Manchester United, Benfica and CSKA Moscow. It’s safe to say that this season they are playing better in Europe than in the domestic league. But now they will have a difficult task against one of the best and in-form teams in the world at this moment.

Manchester City are playing amazingly good this season. The manager Josep Guardiola needed one full season, before make City play in the way he wants. Now the Citizens are dominating the Premier League in a shockingly convincing way, being very close to winning the title. They are also playing the best football in England right now and they are among the best teams in the world. For sure, they are contenders for the Champions League trophy as well.

This is Man City’s biggest dream – to win the Champions League for a first time. This is one of the reasons why Pep Guardiola was appointed in first place. The Catalan manager have won the competition twice with Barcelona and now he will try to do it again with his English team.

It’s clear who is the big favourite here, but don’t be too quick to write off Basel too fast. Most probably they will try to get at least a draw from this match and hope for something better in the second leg.