Manchester City head to RB Leipzig for matchday six on Tuesday evening, already assured of finishing first in Champions League Group A. Last time out, Pep Guardiola’s side defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1, while their German opponents thrashed Club Brugge 5-1.
Club Brugge could have been forgiven for hoping for a win against a Leipzig side depleted in both numbers and confidence, but the Germans were simply a class above in a 5-0 victory at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
On a night when the indomitable Christopher Nkunku and Emil Forsberg both scored goals and Andre Silva made the net tremble, Leipzig’s destiny was confirmed as Man City and PSG both qualified for the last 16 on the penultimate matchday.
Leipzig has only four points from a possible 15 in Group A, with their single win in the 2021-22 competition coming at Brugge, and they are level on points with their Belgian counterparts heading into the last matchday, but with a significantly superior goal difference.
The race for Europa League football is likely to go down to the wire, but Leipzig’s domestic fortunes have taken a turn for the worst, with a 2-1 loss to Union Berlin on Friday marking their third consecutive Bundesliga setback before Jesse Marsch’s departure was confirmed.
The German giants are also winless in their previous three Champions League home games and have conceded two goals in each of their last four European matches at the Red Bull Arena, but Guardiola’s side aren’t playing for much.
City’s superiority over a Marquinhos-inspired opponent PSG went scoreless in the first half of their match at the Etihad Stadium, and Guardiola’s team had their work cut out for them in the second half, with Kylian Mbappe scoring just minutes after the restart.
Last season’s runners-up, on the other hand, made their pressure pay off when Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus flipped the tie on its head with two quickfire goals to ensure City’s first-place finish in the knockout stages.
The Premier League winners have 12 points from a potential 15 in Group A and can’t be caught by PSG at this moment, and they warmed up for this insignificant match with a 3-1 win against Watford, owing to a great Bernardo Silva performance.
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