Man City vs Borussia Monchengladbach moved to Budapest
Manchester City will play the home leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Borussia Monchengladbach back in Budapest next week, as a result of coronavirus restrictions in Germany that will prevent Gladbach from travelling to the UK.
City already played the away leg of the knockout tie in the Hungarian capital last month because of foreign nationals and non-residents being barred from entering Germany.
The UK is considered a greater risk as a ‘virus variant area’ under current German protocols and the rules will not allow Gladbach to head to Manchester and freely return to Germany afterwards.
It means the clubs will face each other at the Puskas Arena for the second time, which is also playing host to both legs of Liverpool’s last 16 clash with RB Leipzig. Restrictions on travellers from the UK issued by Spain also meant that Chelsea played the away leg of their tie against Atletico Madrid in Romania, although the Spaniards are still scheduled to play in London next week as things stand.
City hold a 2-0 aggregate lead over Gladbach, with the two ‘away’ goals scored by Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus last month giving them a clear advantage in the tie.
Barring a major upset, Pep Guardiola’s side will expect to be in the draw for the quarter-finals that will be made by UEFA on 19 March.
Currently only Porto and Borussia Dortmund have qualified, although Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool will expect to join them after Wednesday night’s games. City and Bayern Munich will be expected to progress to the last eight next week, although the ties between Chelsea and Atletico and Real Madrid and Atalanta are much more closely poised.
City will be hoping that their 11-point lead over neighbours Manchester United at the top of the Premier League is comfortable enough to allow them to focus their efforts on winning the Champions League, which is the major trophy that has so far eluded them.
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