Monaco eye another English scalp as City visit

AS Monaco FC host Manchester City FC in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 encounter.

• The Ligue 1 side have a 5-3 deficit to make up after an extraordinary first game in Manchester, in which Monaco led twice before City scored three times in the final 20 minutes. Monaco's Radamel Falcao and City's Sergio Agüero both found the net twice.

• Monaco reached the knockout stage as winners of Group E, while City qualified as Group C runners-up behind FC Barcelona.

Match background

Monaco
• Monaco are seeking a second UEFA Champions League quarter-final appearance in three seasons, having last competed in the last eight in 2015 after beating Arsenal FC on away goals in the round of 16 (3-1 a, 0-2 h).

• They have a strong home record in Europe this term and are unbeaten in five matches in the principality, including qualifiers against Fenerbahçe SK and Villarreal CF (W4 D1).

• They have already got the better of one English side this season, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur FC twice in the group stage. After a 2-1 matchday one success at Wembley, with Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar scoring, they won by the same scoreline at home on 22 November through goals by Djibril Sidibé and Lemar.

• Monaco's home record against English league clubs is W4 D2 L2.

• ASM have won all but one of their five previous two-legged ties against teams from the English league, including UEFA Champions League triumphs over Manchester United FC (1997/98 quarter-final), Chelsea FC (2003/04 semi-final) and Arsenal (2014/15 round of 16.)

• Twenty years ago to the week of this fixture – on 18 March 1997 – Monaco overcame Newcastle United FC 3-0 to seal a 4-0 UEFA Cup quarter-final triumph with the help of two goals from Ali Benarbia, a future City captain.

• Monaco have won seven of the 20 UEFA competition ties in which they have had to recover from a first-leg away defeat – including twice already this season, in the third qualifying round against Fenerbahçe SK (1-2 away, 3-1 home) and Villarreal CF in the play-offs (1-2 away, 1-0 home).

• When that first game was lost by a two-goal margin, however, they have won only one of six ties – although that sole success was a memorable one, against Real Madrid CF in the 2003/04 quarter-finals (2-4 away, 3-1 home). Monaco are unbeaten in home second legs when losing the first game by two goals; their record is W4 D2.

• Monaco's penalty shoot-out record in UEFA competitions is W1 L0:
3-1 v Real Valladolid, 1989/90 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final

Manchester City
• City are bidding to make the quarter-finals for the second time in their history, following last term's groundbreaking run to the last four.

• They are without an away victory so far in this season's competition (D2 L1).

• City ousted Paris Saint-Germain in last year's quarter-finals. After a 2-2 draw in Paris, where Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho scored, De Bruyne struck again in Manchester to secure a 1-0 second-leg victory.

• City's only other brush with French opposition was a 0-0 home draw with Paris in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage. Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta both played.

• Josep Guardiola won all seven previous round of 16 ties as a coach with Barcelona and FC Bayern München.

• City have won five of the six UEFA competition ties in which they have won the home first leg – the sole exception against Juventus in the 1976/77 UEFA Cup first round (1-0 home, 0-2 away). That also includes one tie in which they won at home by a two-goal margin – against Aalborg BK in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16; City recorded a 2-0 home win but lost by the same score in Denmark and needed penalties to progress.

• City's record in penalty shoot-outs in UEFA competition is W2 L0:
4-2 v FC Midtjylland, 2008/09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round
4-3 v Aalborg BK, 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16

Coach and player links
• This is Guardiola's first duel with French opponents since his Barcelona side beat Olympique Lyonnais 6-3 on aggregate in the last 16 in 2009. As a player, he was in the Barcelona side that overcame Paris 1-0 in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final. He had helped Barcelona to home (2-0) and away (1-0) victories over Monaco in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Leonardo Jardim's first encounter with English opposition came as coach of the SC Braga team that beat Birmingham City FC twice (3-1 a, 1-0 h) in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage. The next season, as Olympiacos FC coach, he faced Arsenal in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage, losing 3-1 in London but winning 2-1 at home.

• Yaya Touré was a Monaco player in 2006/07, making 27 Ligue 1 appearances and claiming five goals.

• Bacary Sagna faced Monaco five times with AJ Auxerre between 2004 and 2007 (W2 D2 L1).

• João Moutinho was in the FC Porto side beaten 4-0 at City in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 on 22 February 2012. Fernando and Nicolás Otamendi featured for Porto too that night.

• During his 2014/15 loan at Manchester United, Falcao appeared as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 4-2 home derby win over City. On loan at Chelsea in 2015/16, the Colombian was a late substitute in a 3-0 defeat at City.

• Falcao struck Porto's winner in a 2-1 first-leg home success over Arsenal in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (agg 2-6). He hit a hat-trick against Chelsea for Club Atlético de Madrid in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup.

• Sidibé made his home debut for France as a replacement for Sagna during a 4-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying triumph in October 2016.

• Aleksandar Kolarov scored a free-kick goal for Serbia in a 1-1 friendly draw with France in Belgrade in 2014.

• Have played together:
Fernando & Radamel Falcao (FC Porto, 2009–11)
Fernando, Nicolás Otamendi & João Moutinho (FC Porto, 2010–13)
Bacary Sagna & Djibril Sidibé (France)
Fernandinho & Fabinho (Brazil)

Match facts

Monaco
• Kamil Glik is suspended, while Tiemoué Bakayoko, Falcao, Sidibé and Fabinho are a booking away from a ban.

• Monaco have won all four of their games since the first leg, scoring 12 goals, and their last eight at home since a 3-1 loss to Olympique Lyonnais on 18 December.

• The Ligue 1 leaders are still in contention for four trophies this season after a 4-3 extra-time win at Olympique de Marseille in the French Cup round of 16 on 1 March. Monaco will host LOSC Lille in the last eight on 5 April.

• Four days before that, Monaco face Paris in the French League Cup final.

• Having missed the last two matches with a groin injury, Falcao came off the bench in the 2-1 home victory against FC Girondins de Bordeaux on Saturday.

Manchester City
• Fernandinho, Otamendi and Raheem Sterling are a booking away from a ban.

• City are 11 games unbeaten in all competitions.

• Agüero has scored six goals in his last five outings.

• Guardiola's side have conceded only one goal in four matches since the first leg and on Saturday kept their sixth successive away clean sheet as they defeated Middlesbrough FC 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals.