Man City
Form (all competitions, most recent first):
WWWWDDWhere they stand: 2nd in Premier League, FA Cup quarterfinals
Leipzig
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WLWDWL
Where they stand: 3rd in Bundesliga, German Cup quarterfinals
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 quarterfinals 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 semifinals (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 quarterfinals, 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 quarterfinals (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 semifinals 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 semifinals (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.
What the coaches say
Pep Guardiola, Man City coach: "Hopefully we'll go into the game in a good condition. We can do better [than we did in Leipzig]. We have to adjust some things and find a way to go through."
Marco Rose, Leipzig coach: "We're a completely different team when we make runs and can change the game when we have the ball. The stakes are high in Manchester and we'll take the draw in our stride. We want to go there and do a lot of things right."
Predicted line-ups
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Rúben Dias; Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Grealish; Gündogan; De Bruyne; Haaland
Misses next match if booked: none
Leipzig: Blaswich; Henrichs, Orbán, Gvardiol, Raum; Laimer, Kampl; Szoboszlai, Forsberg; Werner, André Silva
Misses next match if booked: none
