Manchester City could make club history on Tuesday night if they manage to beat Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium and advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
The quarter-final second leg is nicely poised at 2-2, but City have two away goals, which could prove to be crucial.
Manchester City
© Getty ImagesManuel Pellegrini has already won silverware in what we all know to be his final season in charge of Manchester City, and while the Capital One Cup is a respected trophy, winning the club's first ever Champions League would be monumental.
City are four games away from potentially lifting the coveted trophy, but they need to make sure that they get to the semi-finals first, a feat which has never been reached by the North-West outfit.
PSG knocked out Chelsea on their way to the quarter-finals, but they faced a sterner test against City, who managed to grab two away goals at Parc des Princes.
The current 2-2 scoreline means that if the two sides play out a goalless draw at the Etihad, then City advance, and even if both teams manage to score one goal apiece, the Premier League club will still progress as they would have scored more away goals thanks to hits from Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho.
The question is whether or not City can stop Laurent Blanc's side from scoring, because defensive errors from both teams were in plain sight during last week's first leg in France.
With regards to current form, City will head into the fixture on the back of a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion, but it was a shaky start as they conceded a goal from Stephane Sessegnon in the sixth minute.
City soon recovered as Sergio Aguero scored a penalty in the 19th minute and Samir Nasri nabbed the winner 21 minutes into the second half, but that was just their second win in five games in all competitions.
The Citizens' campaign to win the Premier League title is over as they sit fourth in the table, 15 points behind leaders Leicester City with six games left to play, so there is even more importance put on the Champions League.
The positive for City is that 82% of teams who drew 2-2 away in the first leg made it through to the next phase of the competition, but City have struggled to keep clean sheets having kept the door closed just once in their nine Champions League games this season.
At the other end of the pitch, they have had seven different goalscorers in their last seven matches in the competition, but the one player who stands out is Aguero as he has found the back of the net 16 times in his last 19 Champions League starts.
Recent form: WLWWDD
Recent form (all competitions): DDLWDW
Paris Saint-Germain
© Getty ImagesBlanc's team wrapped up the Ligue 1 title race almost one month ago as they claimed an unassailable 25-point lead over Monaco with eight games left to play.
Since then, they have switched their focus to three other competitions, including the Champions League, meaning that they will go all out at the Etihad to reach the semi-finals.
As mentioned, the Ligue 1 title is already won and despite claiming it for a fourth consecutive year, PSG still have some convincing to do if they are to be deemed one of the major players on the European stage.
Defensive frailties were highlighted against City, and given that tomorrow's opponents had never made it to the quarter-final stage before this season, the pressure is on PSG to get the result that they need.
The French outfit have been knocked out at this stage of the competition in the last three seasons - once by Chelsea and Barcelona twice.
The objective for PSG now is to either get on the scoresheet and prevent City from finding the net on home turf or aim for a high-scoring draw and better the two away goals that their rivals snatched at Parc des Princes.
Like City, PSG head into this game on the back of a league win as they overcame Guingamp 2-0 after resting a handful of players, but they too have struggled for consistency having won three, lost one and drawn one in their last five games in all competitions.
PSG may have beaten Chelsea in the last-16 round, but in terms of individual games, they have only won one of their past seven away games against English opposition.
The good news for PSG fans, though, is that their team have scored two or more goals in all of their last five Champions League games and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has netted in his past five games in the competition.
Recent form: WWWWD
Recent form (all competitions): WWLWDW
Team News
© Getty ImagesPellegrini has confirmed that captain Vincent Kompany will not play a part in tomorrow's match, despite taking part in training on Monday.
The centre-back is still working on his recovery from a calf injury and Pellegrini has claimed that tomorrow is too soon for him to come back into the first team.
David Silva, though, is likely to return to the side, while Aguero has shaken off a knock to be considered for the starting XI.
Nicolas Otamendi did not train with the squad today, but he is expected to take Kompany's place in defence, while Yaya Toure is also likely to take part after missing the first leg.
As for PSG, Blanc will have to make do without Blaise Matuidi and David Luiz as the pair are suspended for the second leg, but Marco Verratti could return to the lineup after overcoming a groin problem.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Hart; Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Clichy; Fernando, Toure; Navas, Silva, De Bruyne; Aguero
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Aurier, Marquinhos, Silva, Maxwell; Motta, Verratti, Rabiot; Di Maria, Ibrahimovic, Cavani
Head To Head
Prior to last week's quarter-final first leg, the two sides met in the UEFA Cup group stage in the 2008-09 season, which ended in a goalless draw.
Hart, Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta were all involved in the game, which was the first time that City had gone up against a French team.
During that competition, City, who were managed by Mark Hughes at the time, ended up finishing first in Group A and went on to lose in the quarter-finals, while PSG finished third and were knocked out at the same stage.
We say: Manchester City 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (3-3 on aggregate)
At the moment, City are going through to the semi-finals, but it might end up being a mistake if the team just sit back and draw PSG onto them at the Etihad Stadium, particularly as they displayed defensive problems at Parc des Princes. The French outfit need to cancel out City's away goals with a few of their own, meaning that the onus is on them to get a result. Both teams could score, providing a tense affair at the Etihad, but City could have just enough to progress.
