Man City vs Leipzig facts

Manchester City find themselves in unfamiliar territory as they welcome Leipzig for the conclusion of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie having failed to win a first leg at this stage of the competition for the first time in eight seasons.

Riyad Mahrez gave the visitors a 27th-minute lead at the RB Arena with his 20th UEFA Champions League goal – and third in as many games against Leipzig – but the home side's improved second-half showing was rewarded by Joško Gvardiol's equaliser with 20 minutes to go as Leipzig became the first side to deny City a first-leg victory in the round of 16 since Barcelona won 2-1 in Manchester on 24 February 2015.

City, however, will be confident of reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the sixth season in succession having not lost at home in the competition since September 2018 while Leipzig, who are in the knockout rounds for the third time in four seasons, have lost two of their three games in England.

While City stayed unbeaten in winning Group G by five points to reach the knockout rounds for the tenth season in a row, qualifying with two games to spare, Leipzig had to wait until Matchday 6 to clinch their spot as Group F runners-up.

This is the second season running in which the teams have crossed paths in the UEFA Champions League and the third time Leipzig have faced English opposition in as many round of 16 ties.

Previous meetings

Leipzig and City were in the same group last season, the English club winning 6-3 in Manchester on Matchday 1 thanks to goals from Nathan Aké (16), a Nordi Mukiele own goal (28), Mahrez (45+2pen), Jack Grealish (56), João Cancelo (75) and Gabriel Jesus (85). Christopher Nkunku (42, 51, 73) scored all three of Leipzig's goals, becoming only the fourth player in UEFA Champions League history to end on the losing side after hitting a hat-trick.

Leipzig were 2-1 winners at home to City on Matchday 6, securing third place in Group A thanks to goals in each half from Dominik Szoboszlai (24) and André Silva (71), Mahrez getting the visitors' 76th-minute consolation.

Form guide

Manchester City

This is City's 12th UEFA Champions League group campaign, all in succession; they have featured every season from 2011/12 onwards.

Including this season, the Manchester club's last ten campaigns have all stretched into the knockout rounds, their best performance coming in 2020/21 when they reached a first European Cup final only to lose 1-0 to fellow English side Chelsea in Porto.

In 2021/22, City finished first in Group A on 12 points, one ahead of Paris, having won four of their six games. They then beat Sporting CP (5-0 a, 0-0 h) and Atlético de Madrid (1-0 h, 0-0 a) but were eliminated by eventual champions Real Madrid in the semi-finals (4-3 h, 1-3 a aet).

This season the Manchester club scored 11 goals in winning their first three games, sealing qualification with a goalless draw at Copenhagen on Matchday 4. They were also held 0-0 at Borussia Dortmund in their next fixture before a 3-1 home victory against Sevilla.

Pep Guardiola's side have now finished first in their UEFA Champions League group for six successive seasons.

City have featured in the round of 16 every season from 2013/14 onwards. Their record at this stage is W6 L3, all six wins after playing the first leg away, all three losses after playing the home leg first. Last season's win against Sporting was their fifth successive last-16 victory.

City won their fourth Premier League title in five seasons in 2021/22, the club's eighth league title overall – and sixth since 2011/12.

The Cityzens are unbeaten in 23 home European matches (W21 D2) since a 2-1 loss to Lyon on Matchday 1 in 2018/19, winning 15 of the last 16 with the exception of last season's draw against Sporting.

City had already faced German opposition this season before this tie, beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on Matchday 2 – their ninth successive home victory against Bundesliga teams – before a 0-0 away draw on Matchday 5.

A 3-1 defeat by Bayern München in 2013 is City's sole loss to German opposition in Manchester (W11 D2).

City's 14-match unbeaten run against German clubs – with 13 victories – was ended by the 2-1 loss in Leipzig on Matchday 6 last season. It was their first defeat by a Bundesliga club since a 1-0 reverse at Bayern München in September 2014.

Guardiola's side beat Dortmund 2-1 home and away in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, making City's record in two-legged ties against German clubs W4 L2 with victories in the last three – all in the UEFA Champions League.

This is City's third meeting with German opponents in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. They beat Schalke 10-2 on aggregate in 2018/19 – a 7-0 second-leg win their biggest at home in UEFA competition – and Marco Rose's Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-0 in 2020/21, both games played in Budapest.

City have won all seven ties in UEFA competition in which they drew the away first leg, in each case winning the return fixture at home, most recently against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (2-2 a, 1-0 h). Their sole previous 1-1 first-leg away draw came against Twente in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup first round (3-2 h).

City's record in two UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L0:
4-2 v Midtjylland, 2008/09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round
4-3 v Aalborg, 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16

Leipzig

The first team to make their European debut in the group stage, in 2017/18, Leipzig are featuring in the UEFA Champions League proper for the fifth time in six years.

This is their third campaign to have extended into the knockout stages, Leipzig reaching the semi-finals in 2019/20 before losing 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in a one-off tie in Lisbon.

The German club missed out on the knockout stages in 2021/22, ending third in Group A behind City and Paris despite scoring 15 goals in their six games and recording their biggest European victory, 5-0 at Club Brugge on Matchday 5.

With Domenico Tedesco having replaced Jesse Marsch as head coach, Leipzig went on to beat Real Sociedad (2-2 h, 3-1 a), Spartak Moskva (walkover) and Atalanta (1-1 h, 2-0 a) in the UEFA Europa League before being eliminated by Rangers in the semi-finals (1-0 h, 1-3 a).

Leipzig lost 4-1 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 1 this season, and two days later Tedesco made way for Marco Rose. The German club went down 2-0 at Real Madrid in their second fixture but subsequently won the next four, sealing second place in Group F behind the holders with a 4-0 win against Shakhtar in Poland on Matchday 6.

The Matchday 6 win at Shakhtar was only Leipzig's fourth in their last ten away UEFA Champions League matches, with defeats in the other six.

Fourth in the 2021/22 Bundesliga, their lowest league finish since 2017/18, Leipzig ended the campaign with their first major silverware, defeating Freiburg 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the DFB-Pokal final.

This is only Leipzig's tenth game against a Premier League club, their overall record standing at W4 D1 L4. They have lost two of their three games in England, including a 5-0 reverse at Manchester United in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage that is their heaviest European defeat.

Leipzig's record in two-legged knockout ties against English sides is W1 L1, both in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. They beat Tottenham 4-0 on aggregate (1-0 a, 3-0 h) in 2019/20 but lost 2-0 twice to Liverpool at the same stage of the 2020/21 competition with both matches played in Budapest.

Leipzig have drawn two previous home first legs, against Real Sociedad and Atalanta in last season's UEFA Europa League; they won both ties.

Leipzig have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.

Links and trivia

Have played in England:
Timo Werner (Chelsea 2020–22)
Péter Gulácsi (Liverpool 2007–13, Hereford 2009 loan, Tranmere 2010 loan, Hull 2011/12 loan)
Ørjan Nyland (Aston Villa 2018–20, Norwich 2021, Bournemouth 2021/22, Reading 2022)

Werner was in the Chelsea side that beat City 1-0 in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final.

Have played in Germany:
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund 2020–22)
İlkay Gündoğan (Bochum 2005–09, Nürnberg 2009–11, Borussia Dortmund 2011–16)
Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen 2012/13 loan, Wolfsburg 2014–15)
Stefan Ortega (Arminia Bielefeld 2007–14, 2017–22, 1860 München 2014–17)
Manuel Akanji (Borussia Dortmund 2018–22)
Sergio Gómez (Borussia Dortmund 2018–21)

International team-mates:
İlkay Gündoğan & Marcel Halstenberg, Lukas Klostermann, David Raum, Timo Werner, Benjamin Henrichs (Germany)
Rodri, Aymeric Laporte & Dani Olmo (Spain)
Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva & André Silva (Portugal)
Erling Haaland & Ørjan Nyland (Norway)

Guardiola was Bayern coach between 2013 and 2016, winning the Bundesliga in all three of his seasons in charge. He never faced Leipzig.

John Stones scored past Gulácsi in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier between England and Hungary at Wembley on 12 October 2021 (1-1). Three other City players started the game for the home team – Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Phil Foden – while Dominik Szoboszlai started for the visitors.

Szoboszlai's penalty earned Hungary a 1-0 UEFA Nations League win against England in Budapest on 4 June last year; Walker and substitutes Stones, Grealish and Kalvin Phillips were in the visitors' line-up, Gulácsi and Willi Orbán starting for the hosts.

Haaland scored two goals and set up another as Norway beat Sweden 3-2 in the UEFA Nations League on 12 June 2022; Emil Forsberg scored one of the Swedes' goals.

City striker Julián Álvarez scored twice for Argentina in the 2022 World Cup semi-final against a Croatia side featuring Leipzig defender Gvardiol, the eventual champions winning 3-0.

Latest news

Man City

UEFA Champions League squad changes

In: Máximo Perrone
Out: João Cancelo

Perrone joined City from Argentinian side Vélez Sarsfield while Cancelo will spend the rest of the season on loan at Bayern München.

City have won all four games since the first leg.

A 2-0 home win against on 4 March Newcastle was Ederson's 208th Premier League appearance and his 100th clean sheet. He was the third fastest goalkeeper to a century, after Petr Čech (180 appearances) and Pepe Reina (198).

Bernardo Silva's goal against Newcastle was City's 1,000th home Premier League goal, making them the sixth side to reach a thousand.

City were 1-0 winners at Crystal Palace on Saturday, Erling Haaland scoring the only goal from the penalty spot late in the second half. It was the Norwegian's 28th Premier League goal of the season, beating his previous best total for a league campaign – 27 for Borussia Dortmund in 2020/21.

Eighteen of Haaland's league goals this season have come at home with ten away. He is only the second City player to reach double figures for goals home and away, after Sergio Agüero (13 home, 13 away) in 2014/15.

Haaland's 27th goal came in a 4-1 win at Bournemouth on 25 February, overtaking Agüero's 26-goal mark in 2014/15 as the highest tally for a Manchester City player in a single Premier League campaign.

Phil Foden had scored in three successive matches, four goals in total, before drawing a blank on Saturday.

Foden's strike against Newcastle made him, aged 22 years 280 days, the youngest player to register 50 Premier League goal involvements for City (33 goals, 17 assists).

A 1-0 loss at Tottenham on 5 February was City's fourth Premier League defeat of the season, one more than in the whole of 2021/22.

Pep Guardiola's side have 61 points after 27 Premier League games this season, five fewer than at the same stage in 2021/22.

The Manchester club have also reached the FA Cup quarter-finals thanks to a 3-0 win at Championship club Bristol City in the fifth round on 28 February. They will be at home to Championship leaders Burnley, who are managed by former City defender Vincent Kompany, in the last eight on 18 March.

City were knocked out of the English League Cup by a 2-0 quarter-final loss at Southampton on 11 January.

John Stones started on Saturday having not played since being replaced just before half-time in the FA Cup win against Arsenal on 27 January with a thigh injury.

Julián Álvarez appeared in all seven games, the last five in the starting XI, as Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring four goals including two in the 3-0 semi-final win against Croatia.

Leipzig

UEFA Champions League squad changes

In: Daniel Ihendu*, Ørjan Nyland, Winners Osawe*
Out: Péter Gulácsi, Hugo Novoa
*B list

On 4 January Novoa extended his contract with Leipzig until 2025 and subsequently joined Swiss side Basel on an 18-month loan.

Leipzig were 3-0 winners at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, making it three victories in their last four Bundesliga games.

That was only Leipzig's third victory in their last seven games in all competitions (D2 L2).

Emil Forsberg has scored in Leipzig's last four Bundesliga games while Timo Werner, who opened the scoring at the weekend, has two goals in his last three matches. Joško Gvardiol got the third, his first Bundesliga goal since January 2022.

Since the first leg against City, Marco Rose's side have also won 2-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt before losing at Borussia Dortmund by the same score.

On 1 February holders Leipzig reached the quarter-finals of the German Cup with a 3-1 win against Bundesliga rivals Hoffenheim, Konrad Laimer scoring his first goal of the season. They will be at home to Dortmund on 5 April.

Christopher Nkunku returned as a second-half substitute in a 3-0 win at Wolfsburg on 18 February having been out since 15 November with a knee injury that kept him out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The French international came on in Leipzig's next two games too before starting at Dortmund, but suffered a thigh injury in the closing stages and faces another spell on the sidelines.

With 12 goals Nkunku is still the Bundesliga's joint second top scorer this season, behind Bremen's Niclas Füllkrug (14).

Dani Olmo, who had been out since 27 January with a thigh injury, came on as a late substitute on Saturday.

Xaver Schlager suffered an ankle injury against Dortmund and underwent surgery on 7 March.

Abdou Diallo, who was an unused substitute in a 1-1 draw at home to Bayern München on 20 January, is yet to play in 2023 because of a knee problem.

Gulácsi has been sidelined since 5 October with a knee injury.