Manchester City vs Borussia Mönchengladbach: UEFA Champions League background, form guide, previous meetings

Manchester City are closing in on a fourth successive quarter-final appearance as they hold a 2-0 first-leg cushion for the visit of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

• The English side took control of this tie – Gladbach's first in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 – with victory in the first leg at Budapest's Puskás Aréna thanks to a goal in each half from Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus.

• While City eased into the last 16 as Group C winners, recording five victories in their six matches and conceding only one goal, Gladbach finished second behind Real Madrid in a tight Group B to reach the knockout stages for the first time in only their third campaign in the UEFA Champions League proper.

• City are in the round of 16 for the eighth season running and have won their last three ties at this stage; in contrast this is Mönchengladbach's first European Cup knockout tie, outside qualifying, in over 40 years.

Previous meetings
• City and Mönchengladbach met in the UEFA Champions League group stage in both 2015/16 and 2016/17, the English club winning three of those four fixtures – although the last of them, on Matchday 5 in the latter campaign, ended in a 1-1 draw in Germany with Raffael's opener cancelled out by David Silva in first-half added time.

• Sergio Agüero's hat-trick had helped City to a 4-0 win at home to Mönchengladbach on Matchday 1 of that 2016/17 season. Josep Guardiola's side went on to finish second behind Barcelona with nine points, four ahead of André Schubert's Mönchengladbach who finished third.

• City won 2-1 in Mönchengladbach on 30 September 2015. After Joe Hart's first-half penalty save from Raffael, Gladbach scored through Lars Stindl but City responded through Martín Demichelis and Agüero's last-minute penalty.

• City fought back once more to consign Gladbach to a fourth-placed finish in the group when beating them 4-2 on Matchday 6. The visitors had led 2-1 after Julian Korb and Raffael overturned David Silva's goal, but City struck three times in the last ten minutes, Raheem Sterling (twice) and Wilfried Bony ensuring they won the section.

• The teams' only previous knockout tie came in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, Mönchengladbach winning 4-2 on aggregate (1-1 a, 3-1 h) en route to lifting the trophy. Ewald Lienen cancelled out Mick Channon's goal in the first leg at Maine Road and Gladbach won the return 3-1 thanks to goals by Christian Kulik, Hans-Günter Bruns and Karl Del'Haye. Kazimierz Deyna scored for City.

Form guide

Manchester City
• City scored three goals in each of their first three Group C victories this season, beating Porto (3-1), Marseille and Olympiacos (both 3-0) before a 1-0 win in Greece on Matchday 4 secured progress. A goalless draw in Porto in their penultimate fixture confirmed City in first place before a closing 2-0 win at home to Marseille.

• It is 616 minutes since City conceded a UEFA Champions League goal, Luis Díaz's 14th-minute opener for Porto on Matchday 1. The record for the competition, set by Arsenal in 2005/06, is 995 minutes, with Juventus second in the all-time rankings on 690 minutes.

• Jesus has scored in City's last four round of 16 matches, and in all five of his appearances at this stage of the UEFA Champions League.

• City finished second in the 2019/20 Premier League and bowed out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage for the third season running, going down 3-1 against Lyon in their one-off tie in Lisbon.

• City had finished first in their group with 14 points (W4 D2) before seeing off Real Madrid in the last 16, winning 2-1 away and at home against the 13-time European champions.

• This is the Cityzens' tenth UEFA Champions League campaign; they have been involved every season since 2011/12.

• City have scored 50 goals in their last 20 UEFA Champions League matches; over the last three seasons their record is W19 D4 L3 with 66 goals scored and 22 conceded.

• Guardiola's team are unbeaten in 11 home European matches (W10 D1) since a 2-1 loss against Lyon on Matchday 1 in 2018/19.

• City's best UEFA Champions League performance was reaching the 2015/16 semi-finals.

• City have featured in the round of 16 every season from 2013/14 onwards. Their record at this stage is W4 L3; last season's win against Madrid was their third successive last-16 victory.

• City have won their last three home matches in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase – and four of the last six (L2) – but overall have won only five of their 11 knockout matches in the competition in Manchester (D2 L4). In the round of 16, their home record is W3 D1 L3.

• City have already faced German opponents in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, beating Schalke 10-2 on aggregate in the 2018/19 edition. A 7-0 home win in that second leg is the club's record victory in UEFA club competition.

• That aggregate win against Schalke made City's record in two-legged ties against German clubs W2 L2. They had also beaten the Gelsenkirchen side in the semi-finals of their victorious European Cup Winners' Cup campaign in 1969/70; they lost in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals to Mönchengladbach in 1978/79 and Hamburg 30 years later.

• That was the Cityzens' fifth successive home victory against Bundesliga visitors; a 3-2 defeat by Bayern München in 2013 is their sole loss to German opposition in Manchester (W8 D2).

• The 1-1 draw in Mönchengladbach in November 2016 is the only one of City's last ten matches against German clubs they have failed to win, stretching back to a 1-0 loss at Bayern München in September 2014.

• City have never failed to win a European tie after an away first-leg victory. There have been 11 such contests, including in the round of 16 in each of the last two seasons – against Schalke in 2018/19 and Real Madrid last season. They have only won the away game 2-0 once before, against EB/Streymur of the Faroe Islands in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first qualifying round (2-0 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

Mönchengladbach
• This season, the German club conceded late goals to draw each of their first two fixtures 2-2, shipping a 90th-minute equaliser at Internazionale before drawing at home to Real Madrid, a match in which they had led 2-0 until the 87th minute. Gladbach then stormed to the top of Group B with a 6-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk, Alassane Pléa scoring a hat-trick in his club's record away UEFA Champions League victory; their biggest home success followed on Matchday 4 with a 4-0 defeat of the Ukrainian side at Borussia-Park, and that proved enough for second place despite subsequent defeats at home to Inter (2-3) and in Madrid (0-2).

• This is Mönchengladbach's third UEFA Champions League appearance, both previous participations – in 2015/16 and 2016/17 – ending in group stage elimination. Fourth in their debut campaign, the German club finished third 12 months later.

• Mönchengladbach took part in the UEFA Europa League group stage in 2019/20, finishing third behind İstanbul Başakşehir and Roma in their section. Marco Rose's side picked up eight points (W2 D2 L2) from their six fixtures.

• The Foals have won four of their last ten European games (D2 L4) and only five of the last 20 (D8 L7).

• The Matchday 6 loss at Real Madrid ended Mönchengladbach's seven-match unbeaten run in European away games (W3 D4); it was their first away loss since a 4-0 reverse at Barcelona on Matchday 6 of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League.

• Mönchengladbach are one of two teams making their first round of 16 appearance this season, along with Lazio.

• Although Mönchengladbach took part in the UEFA Champions League play-offs in 2012/13, losing 4-3 on aggregate to Dynamo Kyiv, this is their first knockout tie in the European Cup proper since a 4-2 loss over two legs against Liverpool in the 1977/78 semi-finals (2-1 h, 0-3 a).

• Gladbach lost their first three two-legged knockout ties against English clubs but have been victorious in the last two, most recently beating Arsenal in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup first round having won both matches 3-2.

• The German club have twice lost European finals to English clubs, both against Liverpool; in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup (2-3 aggregate) and the European Cup four years later (1-3).

• Mönchengladbach's only European meetings with Premier League opponents since 1996 have been their five games against City; that win at Arsenal is their only away success against an English team (D2 L4).

• Mönchengladbach have won only one of the five UEFA ties in which they were beaten in the home first leg, although that came in the most recent, against Fiorentina in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (0-1 h, 4-2 a). They have never before lost the home first game 2-0, although they have twice gone down by two-goal margins, to Monaco in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup second round (2-4 h, 1-0 a) and Dynamo Kyiv in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League play-offs (1-3 h, 2-1 a).

• Gladbach lost their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
3-4 v Everton, 1970/71 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round

Links and trivia
• Have played in Germany:
İlkay Gündoğan (Bochum 2005–09, Nürnberg 2009–11, Borussia Dortmund 2011–16)
Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen 2012/13 loan, Wolfsburg 2014–15)

• Has played in England:
Valentino Lazaro (Newcastle United 2020 loan)

• International team-mates:
İlkay Gündoğan & Matthias Ginter, Christoph Kramer, Jonas Hofmann, Lars Stindl, Florian Neuhaus (Germany)
Riyad Mahrez & Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria)
Benjamin Mendy & Alassane Pléa, Marcus Thuram (France)

• Have played together:
İlkay Gündoğan & Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Dortmund 2011–14, 2015/16)
İlkay Gündoğan & Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund 2014–16)
Kevin De Bruyne & Max Grün (Wolfsburg 2014–15)

• De Bruyne scored in Wolfsburg's 3-1 win against Mönchengladbach on the final day of the 2013/14 Bundesliga season; Christoph Kramer got the goal for Mönchengladbach, whose side also included Patrick Hermann, Toni Jantschke and Oscar Wendt.

• Agüero was on target in Argentina's 4-2 friendly win against a Germany side including Kramer and Ginter on 3 September 2014.

• Jesus got the only goal as Brazil beat Germany in a Berlin friendly on 27 March 2018; Stindl was a substitute for the home side.

• Oleksandr Zinchenko's goal past Yann Sommer earned Ukraine a 2-1 UEFA Nations League win against Switzerland on 3 September 2020; Nico Elvedi and Breel Embolo were also on the losing side in Lviv.

Latest news

Manchester City
• UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: None
Out: Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Blackburn, loan), Cieran Slicker

• Bernardo Silva's next appearance in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, will be his 50th.

• City's 21-match winning run in all competitions was ended by a 2-0 home derby defeat against Manchester United on 7 March. Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 101 seconds, the earliest Premier League goal City have conceded at the City of Manchester Stadium.

• That was also the first time City had trailed in 20 Premier League fixtures.

• The Cityzens were also unbeaten in 28 games in all competitions (W25 D3), since a 2-0 Premier League loss at Tottenham on 21 November, before losing to United.

• Defeat by United was City's second at home this season in all competitions and a first since a 5-2 Premier League loss to Leicester on 27 September; their home record otherwise is W17 D2. They had won nine in a row before losing to United.

• Josep Guardiola's side bounced back with a 5-2 win at home to Southampton on 10 March, Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne both scoring twice.

• City were 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday, John Stones making it four Premier League goals for the season with the opener – he had never previously managed more than one in a campaign – with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Agüero, a penalty, scoring the others.

• The weekend was only Agüero's fourth Premier League start this season after knee and hamstring problems. His goal was his first in the league since 21 January 2020.

• Stones scored only once in his first 170 Premier League appearances for Everton and City, but now has four goals in his last ten games.

• City have won their last 13 away games in all competitions, surpassing the previous record for an English top-flight team of 11 they set themselves between May and November 2017.

• İlkay Gündoğan, who also found the net against Southampton, has scored ten goals in 14 Premier League appearances in 2021.

• City have also reached the English League Cup for the fourth year in a row – and the sixth time in eight seasons – with wins away to Arsenal in the quarter-finals (4-1) and Manchester United in the semis (2-0). City, who have won the trophy three years running, will play Tottenham at Wembley on 25 April.

• Guardiola's side are also into the FA Cup quarter-finals thanks to a 3-0 home win against Birmingham and 3-1 successes at Cheltenham and Swansea. They will visit Everton in the last eight on 20 March.

• Nathan Aké has not played since 26 December due to a hamstring injury.

• De Bruyne was included in the UEFA.com fans' Men's Team of the Year 2020.

Mönchengladbach
• UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Julio Villalba
Out: László Bénes (Augsburg, loan)

• Gladbach have lost their last six games in all competitions, going down 3-1 at Augsburg on Friday night. It is their longest run of defeats since they lost eight in a row in 1989/90.

• Marco Rose's team are without a win in eight games, since a 2-1 German Cup success in Stuttgart on 3 February. Their record since is D1 L7.

• Gladbach have won only six of their last 22 matches in all competitions (D6 L10).

• Mönchengladbach have failed to score in four of their last seven matches, and three of the last five.

• Three days after the first leg against Manchester City they succumbed 3-2 in Leipzig, letting slip a 2-0 lead.

• On 2 March Gladbach lost 1-0 at home in the German Cup quarter-finals against Borussia Dortmund, going down by the same scoreline at home to Bayer Leverkusen four days later.

• After 25 Bundesliga matchdays Gladbach have amassed 33 points – 16 less than at the same stage of last season.

• Christoph Kramer (ankle) and Jonas Hofmann (muscular problems) both missed the game against Leverkusen, with Hofmann returning to play 90 minutes on Friday.

• Ramy Bensebaini missed Friday's defeat at Augsburg with a knock.

• Mamadou Doucouré has been sidelined since December because of muscular problems.

• On 15 February Gladbach announced that coach Rose will leave the club to join Dortmund at the end of the season.