Manchester City will endeavour to keep their treble-winning hopes alive when they travel to the Santiago Bernabeu to face Champions League holders Real Madrid in the first leg of their semi-final clash on Tuesday.
The Citizens booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals for the third successive year courtesy of an impressive two-legged triumph over Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last month.
Pep Guardiola's side, who beat Leeds United 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium last weekend to maintain their place at the Premier League summit, make the trip to the Spanish capital in exceptional form having put together a 20-game unbeaten run across all competitions, including 17 wins and three draws.
Ahead of the mouth-watering contest on Tuesday, Sports Mole takes a look at Man City's road to the 2022-23 Champions League semi-finals.
GROUP G – FIRST PLACE
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Man City were one of only four teams, along with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain who completed this season's group stage unbeaten after winning four and drawing two of their six Group G matches, scoring 14 goals and conceding just twice in the process.
The Citizens won their Champions League group for the sixth successive year, claiming top spot with a game to spare ahead of runners-up Borussia Dortmund, third-placed Sevilla and fourth-placed Copenhagen.
Guardiola's side kick-started their campaign in September with a comfortable 4-0 victory away against Sevilla, with Erling Braut Haaand scoring a brace, before the Norwegian netted a late acrobatic match-winner against his former club Dortmund to secure a 2-1 win at the Etihad just a week later.
Haaland scored another double in City's 5-0 home thrashing of Copenhagen in October, although the Citizens were unable to find the net in the reverse fixture with their Danish counterparts as they were forced to play out a goalless draw with 10 men in matchday four, with Riyad Mahrez missing a penalty shortly before Sergio Gomez was sent off on the half-hour mark.
Mahrez also missed from 12 yards in City's 0-0 draw with Dortmund in Germany, but that result was enough for Guardiola's side to qualify for the knockout rounds as Group G winners. The Citizens then ended their group-stage campaign with a 3-1 home victory over Sevilla in early November, a game in which Rico Lewis scored his first-ever City goal and became the youngest-ever player (17 years and 346 days) to score on his Champions League debut.
LAST 16 – MANCHESTER CITY 8-1 RB LEIPZIG
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Man City entered their last-16 tie with RB Leipzig as firm favourites to come out on top, but few would have envisaged the Premier League giants demolishing their Bundesliga counterparts in such emphatic fashion.
A game of two halves was played out in February's first leg, with a dominant Citizens side leading 1-0 at the break courtesy of a Riyad Mahrez strike, before in-demand defender Josko Gvardiol restored parity for a much-improved Leipzig side with a bullet header in the 70th minute, forcing both sides to settle for a 1-1 draw in Germany.
However, the second leg was anything but a tight affair and will be remembered for the five-star showing of goal machine Erling Braut Haaland, who scored five of City's goals in a thumping 7-0 victory at the Etihad in March.
Midfield duo Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne were also on the scoresheet to help City equal their biggest-ever Champions League win, matching the 7-0 triumph over another German side in Schalke 04 in March 2019.
QUARTER-FINALS – MANCHESTER CITY 4-1 BAYERN MUNICH
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Man City's reward for smashing Leipzig was a quarter-final tie with another German team in the form of Guardiola's former club Bayern Munich, a tricky two-legged clash on paper but one the Citizens managed to take control of courtesy of an excellent first-leg performance.
Indeed, a stunning strike from Rodri just before the half-hour mark opened the scoring and set the tone for a masterful City display, and second-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Haaland capped off a 3-0 first-leg triumph at the Etihad in April.
The onus was on Bayern to come out of the blocks quickly in the second leg and pose a greater threat at the Allianz Arena, but they ultimately lacked a clinical edge in the final third of a closely-fought contest.
Haaland made amends for blazing a first-half penalty over the crossbar when he fired City in front on the 57-minute mark, before Joshua Kimmich scored a consolation goal from the penalty spot seven minutes from time.
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Oliver Thomas
