Champions League: On current form, Monaco versus Manchester City should be a belter

As the Champions League round of 16 winds down, there have been no shortage of champagne moments with Barcelona’s epic comeback over Paris Saint-Germain drawing the attention of the footballing world before Leicester City’s latest triumph over Sevilla earning plaudits from none other than the legendary Gigi Buffon himself.

The Foxes were full value for their win over the Spanish team as they continue their resuscitation under Craig Shakespeare, winning three out of three after the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.

They were helped by the fact that Sevilla imploded under pressure, with Samir Nasri’s brainfade moment handicapping his side’s chances of a comeback with an absolutely silly bust-up with Jamie Vardy, followed moments later by Steven N’Zonzi’s poor penalty saved comfortably by Kasper Schmeichel, spurning the one golden chance they had to take the game into extra time.

Leicester were joined in the last eight by the Italian champions, Juventus, who had a straightforward 1-0 win over Porto to secure comfortable progress to the next stage. They will go into the quarterfinal draw alongside Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Fiesta and fireworks in France?

The matches that have preceded the last round of matches may however, be simply the appetiser to tonight’s matchup in France as two of the most lethal attacks in Europe face off after a pulsating 5-3 encounter in Manchester two weeks ago.

Leicester may be the flavour of the season in being proclaimed last season’s underdogs but we’re going to stick our neck out there and proclaim that in case they qualify, no team will truly relish coming up against Leonardo Jardim’s team and their frightening front-line.

Les Rouges et Blancs have a number of records to their this season, including the highest number of league goals in Europe’s top five divisions (84), the highest number of home goals (52) and the highest number of goals in all competitions combined among the teams in the top five leagues (127) barring Barcelona, who have two more.

Opposition teams have crumbled against Monaco this season, the latter having scored three goals or more in a match 22 times this season with a quarter of the season yet to come. Radamel Falcao, their top scorer with 24 accounts for less than 20% of their total goals as nine team members have notched five goals or more this season.

Mbappe’s big audition

Part of Monaco’s huge goal tally is down to their lightning-fast counter-attacking and an array of young, pacy dribblers willing to take opposition defenders on. Thomas Lemar and Bernardo Silva will make it very tough for City to defend against with their runs down the wing and middle, hoping to tee up their Colombian hitman.

Yet, if the first leg was anything to go by, the man (boy) to look out for is 18-year old Kylian Mbappe. Dembeles, Ousmane at Borussia Dortmund and Mousa at Celtic may be Europe’s most talked about teenagers but Mbappe’s showing this season has been nothing short of outstanding.

A return of 16 goals and five assists is the highest by a teenager in Europe’s top leagues and Mbappe terrorised Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones in the first leg, twisting, turning City’s backline with a series of lung bursting runs, capping off a fine performance with a well-taken goal.

Capable of playing on either wing or as a forward, Mbappe is even more reminiscent of a young Thierry Henry, perhaps even more so than Anthony Martial and he will use his physicality and speed to put Man City off. Wanted by English, German and Spanish clubs, this is the young Frenchman’s big audition as City will be wary, having barely survived his blistering pace in the first leg.

A game of fine margins

Monaco, like Sevilla, could pay the penalty for not putting their opponents to the sword in the first leg as a tense second leg beckons. Up 2-1 in the first leg, Falcao fluffed a penalty as Daniel Subasic missed a routine shot from Sergio Aguero to allow the ball to squirm in the net and level it for City.

This match should make for an exciting spectacle as well but it will be played on such fine margins as the first one. Falcao would later make amends with a world-class chipped goal but if the team from the tiny principality had gone 3-1 down, you would have bet on them to see the game out.

City are no mugs themselves and with Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane forming a very attacking quartet, are very likely to pinch a goal themselves. Pep Guardiola’s biggest concern will not be his attack but at the other end of the pitch.

In Manchester, his team was second best for long spells as his team was outrun, outgunned and outplayed by the visitors and their breakneck counters. Bacary Sagna and Aleksandar Kolarov are in for a long night if the first leg was any indication to go by and it is almost a certainty that City will have to score in Monaco in order to go through, given the terrifying goalscoring form the home team is in.

Perhaps it is fitting that this clash is the last in a series of what has been a footballing bonanza in the round of 16. If the form book is anything to go by, Monaco versus Manchester City should be another Champions League classic.