Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne is targeting another deep Champions
League run, although Pep Guardiola's side must first negotiate a tricky
last 16 second leg against Monaco this week.
City recovered from twice falling behind to outgun the French league
leaders 5-3 in the opening leg in Manchester, but Monaco's formidable
attacking threat could still shatter the Premier League club's
aspirations.
Under Manuel Pellegrini last season City reached the semifinals for the
first time, losing to eventual champions Real Madrid 1-0 on aggregate,
and De Bruyne is confident they can go further with Guardiola.
"I think we can reach the final, but of course the other teams will
think the same and that doesn't make it easier," the Belgium
international told Uefa.com
"It will be very tough against Monaco, they're doing extremely well at
the moment, but we are very positive and if we beat them we are through
to the quarterfinals.
"After that, the final isn't that far away," he added.
Guardiola has won all seven previous last-16 ties with Barcelona and
Bayern Munich, but City's recent away form is mediocre at best with just
one victory in their last six games in Europe.
"We'd like to go through, but we cannot forget the team we are going to
play. Their attack is the best, by far," Guardiola said after City
defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 on Saturday to reach the FA Cup semifinals.
"It will be tough but we’ll try to play our game and try to be one of the best eight teams in Europe."
Radamel Falcao, who scored twice at the Etihad Stadium, is set to return
to the starting line-up on Wednesday after coming off the bench in
Saturday's 2-1 win over Bordeaux that kept Monaco three points clear at
the top.
Eighteen-year-old starlet Kylian Mbappe has scored nine goals in his
last eight appearances, including the opener against Bordeaux, and will
have a key role to play if Monaco are to continue their strong record in
two-legged ties against English teams, having won four out of five
times.
- Shakespeare appointed -
Jamie Vardy's goal in Spain ensured Leicester City remain firmly in the
hunt for a quarterfinal berth despite a 2-1 first-leg defeat at Sevilla.
The Foxes used a 10-day gap in the fixture list to hold a training camp
in Dubai ahead of Tuesday's return leg at the King Power Stadium.
Craig Shakespeare has been named as the club's manager until the end of
the season, and Austrian left-back Christian Fuchs said the trip to the
Middle East was a welcome breather.
"It was an intense time over the last couple of weeks. It’s good to come
down and work a little on team spirit. When you win two games, that’s
the best medicine for team spirit," Fuchs told Leicester's in-house TV
channel, with the Premier League champions coming off back-to-back 3-1
wins over Liverpool and Hull.
Fernando Torres is expected to return for Atletico Madrid for their
second leg at home to Bayer Leverkusen after a sickening clash of heads
in a 1-1 draw with Deportivo La Coruna 10 days ago.
Diego Simeone's side, runners-up twice in the past three seasons, hold a 4-2 advantage going into Wednesday's clash in Spain.
Captain Gabi and defender Filipe Luis are suspended for Atletico, while
Tayfun Korkut is the new man in charge for Leverkusen after replacing
Roger Schmidt last week.
Porto face a monumental challenge to overturn a 2-0 deficit away to 2015 finalists Juventus.
The Italian giants are unbeaten at home since August 2015 and extended
their incredible 17-month winning league run in Serie A as Paulo Dybala
scored a controversial last-gasp penalty in a 2-1 victory over AC Milan
last Friday.
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