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PARIS. — Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne is targeting another deep Champions League soccer 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 out-gun the French league leaders 5-3 in the opening leg in Manchester, but Monaco’s formidable attacking threat could still shatter the English Premier League club’s aspirations.
Under Manuel Pellegrini last season City reached the semi-finals 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 quarter-finals.
“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 semi-finals.
“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 tomorrow night 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.
Jamie Vardy’s goal in Spain ensured Leicester City remain firmly in the hunt for a quarter-final 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 tonight’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. 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. — AFP.
Online Reporter