Every football fan’s attention turns to England on Wednesday in the
UEFA Champions League second-leg ties as the duo of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City look to book their place in the last-eight of this season’s competition off the back of strong showings in the first-leg a fortnight ago.
UEFA Champions League fixtures:
Wednesday, March 6th
Tottenham (2) vs (2) Juventus
Man City (4) vs (0) Basel
Both games kick-off at 19:45 (7:45pm) GMT
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (2) vs (2) JUVENTUS
WEMBLEY STADUM, LONDON
After all the criticism surrounding Spurs’ inability to win at Wembley in the early weeks of the campaign, looking back it has been a stellar season so far for Mauricio Pochettino’s men at their temporary home. They have lost just once there in all competitions this season, a 2-1 defeat back in August sparking an 11-game unbeaten run which included impressive victories over Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund. They cemented top-spot in Group H in the Champions League ahead of double-defending champions Real Madrid and are still yet to lose in 2018, a streak which now spans an incredible 17-matches as they prepare to welcome Turin giants Juventus to town.
Tottenham Hotspur recent results:
All competitions
03/03/2018 – Tottenham 2-0 Huddersfield
28/02/2018 – Tottenham 6-1 Rochdale (FAC)
25/02/2018 – Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham
18/02/2018 – Rochdale 2-2 Tottenham (FAC)
13/02/2018 – Juventus 2-2 Tottenham (UCL)
Massimiliano Allegri will have been shattered to see his side succumb to the North-London outfit as they did two weeks ago in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 clash. With the score sitting at 2-0 to the Italian’s inside the opening 10 minutes of the match, they allowed Spurs back into it through Harry Kane but could have put the tie to bed when they awarded their second penalty of the half, only for Gonzalo Higuain who was on a hat-trick, to smack his spot-kick against the crossbar. Tottenham levelled through Cristian Eriksen in the second-half to take two precious away goals back with them to Wembley. Kane and Eriksen, interestingly, were also the goal-scorers in their only other meeting – a pre-season friendly back in August which Spurs won 2-0.
Juventus recent results: (all competitions)
03/03/2018 – Lazio 0-1 Juventus
28/02/2018 – Juventus 1-0 Atalanta (CI)
18/02/2018 – Torino 0-1 Juventus
13/02/2018 – Juventus 2-2 Tottenham (UCL)
09/02/2018 – Fiorentina 0-2 Juventus
MANCHESTER CITY (4) vs (0) FC BASEL
ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER
Since they romped to victory in Switzerland last time out, Pep Guardiola’s side have gone on to lift the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 demolition of Arsenal before a repeat scoreline in the league four days later was followed up by an equally convincing 1-0 win against the outgoing champions Chelsea. The only blip on their seemingly unbeatable radar was the shock 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic which dumped them out of this season’s FA Cup – the same opponents who stunned them in the final of the 2013 edition. Sergio Aguero has scored six goals in his last six outings but with Gabriel Jesus edging back to full fitness, the Argentine may be set for spot on the bench with the tie already looking comfortably over.
Manchester City recent results: (all competitions)
04/03/2018 – Man City 1-0 Chelsea
01/03/2018 – Arsenal 0-3 Man City
25/02/2018 – Arsenal 0-3 Man City (CC)
19/02/2018 – Wigan 1-0 Man City (FAC)
13/02/2018 – Basel 0-4 Man City (UCL)
Any hopes FC Basel may have had of mounting a challenge for the Swiss League crown faded fast with defeat to third-placed St. Gallen before they were knocked out of the Swiss Cup in the semi-finals by log leaders Young Boys. Raphael Wicky, a former Swiss international, has been lauded for the work he has done with Basel and despite their humbling defeat at the hands of arguably the strongest side in Europe at the moment, his team will be relishing their first visit to the Etihad Stadium as his players will be looking to make a name for themselves on the biggest and brightest of stages. Barcelona became the first-team in the competitions history to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit when they ran-out 6-1 winners against PSG last season that can be regarded as nothing short of miraculous.
FC Basel recent results: (all competitions)
27/02/2018 – Young Boys 2-0 Basel (SC)
17/02/2018 – Basel 0-2 St. Gallen
13/02/2018 – Basel 0-4 Man City (UCL)
10/02/2018 – Thun 0-2 Basel
04/02/2018 – Basel 0-1 Lugano