Manchester CityChampions LeagueSporting Lisbon

The eighth-final Champions League pair between Manchester City and Sporting Lisbon had their clear favorite, with a surprise very unlikely. However, no one expected everything to be completely resolved in Portugal in the first part. "Citizens" were phenomenal at "Jose Alvelade" in mid-February and won with a clear 5-0, as their host did not even reach the right shot.

Manchester City continues to fight on two more fronts, winning a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on March 1, after beating Peterborough 2-0. On Sunday, the Citizens definitely won the Manchester derby and kept a six-point lead at the top of Liverpool. Kevin de Bruyne was above all and with two goals and an assist helped his team to have no problems against Manchester United in the decisive 5: 1.

Since mid-February, Sporting has not been in very good shape, winning just two of six official matches and is on the verge of saying goodbye to its chances of success on all three fronts on which it competes. The mistakes of the Portuguese elite remain. The Green and Whites scored six points from Porto, and the first semifinal with the Dragons from the Portuguese Cup was lost 1: 2. On Saturday, Sporting won 2-0 over Arouca.

I expected Sporting to face far better than their opponent in Portugal, and once everything is decided, the rematch is extremely difficult to predict. In the first place, the guests will certainly look for an honorable goal, and the hosts have the opportunity to play a peaceful match in which to save strength and rather record a more reasonable success.

There is no reason to witness a rough match today. The referee of the match will be the Turkish referee Halit Umut Meler, who during the season shows an average of 4.16 yellow cards per match. Today's opponents showed fair play in the first match, and all four cards were shown after an hour of play. I'm expecting an even calmer match today and I don't think the referee will have much to do at the Etihad Stadium.