Manchester City – Bayern Munich

The English champion will not be able to secure a serious lead in the first leg of the quarter-final

The final-level clash will kick off at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Before the quarter-final draw, bookmakers had already regarded Manchester City and Bayern as the main contenders to win the title this season. The group stage was a "technical" stage for the English and German champions. In six games against Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and Copenhagen, Guardiola's side conceded a combined total of two goals and twice lost points as a result of draws. The Munich club did not lose any points at all, defeating Barcelona, Inter, and Viktoria Plzen twice each. Bayern's biggest test came in the first leg of the play-offs, but they did well against PSG - two victories by a combined score of 3-0. Manchester City were at home to Leipzig in the 1/8 finals, 1-1, before demolishing the German club 7-0 at home. Ahead of the match at the Etihad, bookmakers see the home side as favourites with odds of 1.75 to win on Tuesday. Manchester City continue to chase leading Arsenal in the Premier League. The Citizens have picked up such pace in recent weeks that bookmakers rightly leave them high odds for first place, despite the Canaries' impressive points lead. Guardiola's side have won their last eight games without too much difficulty, and in the last four meetings they have demolished Leipzig, Burnley, Liverpool and Southampton by a combined score of 21-2. Despite their monstrousness, Manchester City can hardly be expected to pile on the Bayern goal from the opening minutes of the upcoming match. Still, the level of the opponents is very different, and the cost of a mistake is higher than in the Premier League and national cup tournaments. Bayern parted ways with Julian Nagelsmann a fortnight ago with the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as head coach. His previous job was with Chelsea in London, so he knows the Mancunians well. Under Tuchel, Bayern have experienced both the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat. However, the visitors will arrive in Manchester in a good mood after defeating Freiburg in the league. Bayern are unlikely to lose in their first meeting with the English champions.