Manchester City will be looking for a first-leg advantage when they travel to Portugal on Tuesday night to face Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League last-16 stage.
The Citizens won Group A with 12 points to advance to the round of 16, while Sporting finished second in Group C behind Ajax, narrowly beating Borussia Dortmund to a spot in the round of 16.
Sporting are in the last-16 stage of the Champions League for the first time since the 2008-09 season, when they were incredibly defeated 12-1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich, and there is no doubt that they are the heavy underdogs to advance from this two-legged encounter with the German giants.
The Portuguese champions, as previously stated, finished second behind Ajax in Group C to advance to the knockout round of the competition, claiming nine points from their six matches and securing a spot in the tournament's last-16 stage despite suffering three defeats in the section.
Sporting's standout result in the section was a 3-1 win over Dortmund at the end of November, and they will know that a positive result in the first leg is critical in order to stand a chance ahead of the second leg on March 9 at the Etihad Stadium.
Many consider Manchester City to be the favorites to win the Champions League this season, but the Citizens were far from perfect in the group stage, losing two of their six matches; a record of 12 points was still enough to top the section, with Paris Saint-Germain finishing second.
Pep Guardiola's side will enter this match on the back of a 4-0 Premier League win over Norwich City on Saturday, which moved them 12 points clear of second-placed Liverpool at the top.
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Sporting's standout result in the section was a 3-1 win over Dortmund at the end of November, and they will know that a positive result in the first leg is critical in order to stand a chance ahead of the second leg on March 9 at the Etihad Stadium.
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