The last of the English teams to play their Round of 16 first leg, City went into the game as strong favourites. 18 wins in a row, with as good as a fully fit squad. Gladbach have not hit the heights of last season, losing 2 of their last 3 Bundesliga fixtures to Mainz and Koln, teams in 17th and 14th place respectively. They have however shown signs that they can turn up in the big games, beating both Dortmund and Bayern since the turn of the year. 43 years have passed since Gladbach’s last bout in a Champions League knockout game, with City’s most recent defeat to the Foals coming some 32 years ago in the UEFA Super Cup. City conceded just 1 goal throughout the entire group stage and subsequently looked clear favourites for the tie.
City started the game the brighter of the two sides, Phil Foden striking from distance but not troubling Sommer. They had 70% of the ball in the first 10 minutes, with Gladbach looking to strike on the break. The first 27 minutes offered up few opportunities for either side, until Sterling appeared to be scythed down as he ran into the box, however no penalty was given after a brief VAR review. Still frustrated by the decision, City struck just two minutes later. A sublime cross from Joao Cancelo was nodded in at the back post by Bernardo Silva, a goal made in Benfica.
City imposed themselves on the hosts in the first half, pressing high and controlling the game. When on the ball, Gladbach continued to attempt to play their passing game, knocking the ball about with relative confidence before one of their players either gave up possession or was challenged well. As the first half went on City turned it up a few gears, offering their opponents little to no time on the ball, working hard to win it back and forcing mistakes. Gladbach were so starved of the ball that on the few occasions they carried it into the City half, rushed and inaccurate passes along with poor decision making gave possession straight back to the visitors.
As the whistle was blown for halftime, Ederson had seen virtually none of the ball. Conceding no chances at all whilst creating 4 for themselves and holding 60% of the ball, City looked set to kick on in the second period. With no changes for either side at half time, it was all up to Gladbach to raise their game, or City would be as comfortable.
The first goal scoring opportunity of the half fell again to City, where Jesus really should have made it 0-2. Sloppy play from Bensebaini after assuming the ball had gone out led to him playing a bizarre through ball straight to the Brazilian, who if anything had too much time. As the half progressed Gladbach began to test City a little more, with their first big chance coming in the form of an Alassane Plea flick which went just wide.
That would prove to be Plea’s final contribution for the evening, as he was replaced by fellow Frenchman Thuram. Valentino Lazaro who spent last season on loan to Newcastle came on for Laimer. Almost instantly however, Cancelo repeated his brilliant delivery to find Bernardo yet again at the back post, this time nodding the ball back to Jesus to make amends for his earlier miss and put daylight between the sides. 0-2 City.
Captain Raheem Sterling was then given a rest for Riyad Mahrez, Guardiola looking towards oncoming fixtures of great importance. A quiet night for the winger, who struggled to beat Bensebaini before switching to the left hand side and offering little cutting edge going forward. Embolo, who’s last outing against City was a 7-0 loss to the Manchester side, came on to replace captain Lars Stindl in the 74th minute. That minute marked the 10th hour of football Man City have played in the Champions League without conceding since Luis Diaz’s goal in the first game against Porto.
Guardiola made two more changes on 80 minutes, as Aguero replaced goalscorer Jesus and Ferran Torres came on for Foden. The match continued to progress with little opportunities for either side, City more than content to keep the ball. A penalty shout from the Foals was denied after a VAR review agreed with the decision of the on field referee, Cancelo involved in a tangle with Hofmann. That would be the last involvement for the German midfielder, as Marco Rose made a point of bringing him off seemingly injured after the penalty shout, replacing him with Hannes Wolf. Ederson was called upon in the very last minute of extra time as the substitute broke between the central defenders of City only to fire into Ederson’s outstretched gloves.
The game finished 0-2 to the visitors, who are now 26 games unbeaten, two off their record of 28 set in their centurion season in 2017-18. Gladbach threatened very little, making it way too easy for City to control the game and make the most of their chances. A professional performance that they can take back to the home leg in 3 weeks time where they will undoubtedly go through. Total domination, a well executed gameplan and overall better quality frustrated Marco Rose, who is off to Dortmund in the summer. City look unstoppable at the minute, clean sheets a given and consistently netting 2 or more goals a game. If any side is to stop Guardiola’s men in Europe they will have to be at the very top of their game.
In the evening’s other tie, Atalanta were down to 10 men after 17 minutes when Remo Freuler was dismissed after denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. It took Los Blancos all of 86 minutes to find what would prove to be the winner, Ferland Mendy curling his effort into the bottom right corner from outside the box, the Frenchman’s first goal in the competition.
Tottenham followed up their 4-1 first leg win against Austrian side Wolfsberger AC with a comfortable display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 4-0 it finished, with goals from Bale, Dele Alli and 2 strikes from Carlos Vinicius sending Spurs through 8-1 on aggregate.