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Manchester City in sight of quarter-finals in Basel second leg

A 4-0 first-leg win in Switzerland has left Manchester City within sight of a second quarter-final appearance, while Basel will be looking to restore some pride.

Sergio Agüero (left) celebrates after scoring at Basel
Sergio Agüero (left) celebrates after scoring at Basel ©Getty Images

Manchester City FC are within touching distance of a second UEFA Champions League quarter-final, while FC Basel 1893 will attempt to restore some pride in the second leg of their round of 16 tie.

• İlkay Gündoğan (2), Bernardo Silva and Sergio Agüero gave City a 4-0 first-leg win in Switzerland, matching the club's record away win in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, and leaving their opponents facing a third last-16 defeat.

• While the English club have lost three of their four last-16 ties – the exception coming in 2015/16, when Manuel Pellegrini's City went on to reach the semi-finals – Basel were beaten on their two previous appearances at this stage, in 2012 and 2015.

Match background

Manchester City
• The Citizens have played in four previous round of 16 ties. Last season Josep Guardiola's side lost on away goals to AS Monaco FC (5-3 home, 1-3 away), their third defeat at this stage. City also went down to FC Barcelona in 2013/14 (0-2 home, 1-2 away) and 2014/15 (1-2 home, 0-1 away); their sole last-16 success was a 3-1 aggregate victory against FC Dynamo Kyiv in 2015/16 (3-1 away, 0-0 home).

Highlights: Basel 0-4 Manchester City

• The 2015/16 campaign is the only previous occasion City won their UEFA Champions League group and also the only time they won the subsequent round of 16 tie.

• This is City's first tie against Swiss opposition.

• City are unbeaten in their last 13 home fixtures in the UEFA Champions League (W10 D3), qualifying included, since a 2-1 Juventus reversal on matchday one in 2015/16. The Juve loss was their fourth in six matches at the City of Manchester Stadium, with just one win in that run. This season they have beaten FC Shakhtar Donetsk (2-0), SSC Napoli (2-1) and Feyenoord (1-0) in Manchester.

• Guardiola's side have won seven of their last eight home European matches, including the last four.

• Third in last season's Premier League, City are making a seventh straight UEFA Champions League appearance – they are in the round of 16 for a fifth campaign in a row.

• Having won their first five games in this season's competition, City lost 2-1 at FC Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday six. They had previously won 4-0 at Feyenoord and 4-2 at SSC Napoli.

• City have therefore recorded their two biggest away wins in the UEFA Champions League proper this season. In addition, their biggest home win is last season's 4-0 group defeat of VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, while they were 5-0 victors at Romania's Fotbal Club FCSB in last season's play-offs – meaning their four biggest wins in the competition, qualifying included, have all come under Guardiola.

• City have never failed to win a European tie after winning the away first leg. There have been eight such contests, most recently against FCSB in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League play-offs (5-0 away, 1-0 home). In every case bar one, City also won the home second leg; the sole exception was that 2016 tie against Dynamo Kyiv (0-0 home).

• The Manchester club have never previously won an away first leg 4-0.

İlkay Gündoğan (left) is congratulated by Vincent Kompany
İlkay Gündoğan (left) is congratulated by Vincent Kompany©AFP/Getty Images

• City's record in penalty shoot-outs in UEFA competition is W2 L0:
4-2 v FC Midtjylland, 2008/09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round
4-3 v Aalborg BK, 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16

Basel
• This is Basel's third appearance in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. In 2011/12 they beat FC Bayern München 1-0 in the home first leg only to lose 7-0 away – their biggest defeat in UEFA competition.

• In 2014/15, Basel drew 1-1 at home to FC Porto – Danilo, now with City, scoring Porto's goal from the penalty spot – but suffered another heavy away defeat, going down 4-0 in Portugal.

• Raphaël Wicky's team have already enjoyed success against a Manchester club in this season's competition, beating Manchester United FC 1-0 in Switzerland on matchday five having lost 3-0 at Old Trafford in the opening round of games. They finished second behind the English side in Group A, collecting 12 points – their highest total in a UEFA Champions League group stage.

• The Swiss club were 2-0 winners at PFC CSKA Moskva on matchday three and wrapped up their place in the round of 16 by winning 2-0 at SL Benfica on 5 December.

• The CSKA success ended a six-game winless run in European away matches (D1 L5); Basel had won four of their previous five before that sequence.

• Before thrashing Benfica 5-0 on matchday two – their record UEFA Champions League win – Basel were without a victory in nine European matches, home or away (D3 L6), since a 2-1 home success over AS Saint-Étienne on 25 February 2016.

• Beaten away (0-2) and at home (1-4) by Arsenal FC in autumn 2016, the Swiss side had lost their previous three matches against English clubs before overcoming United, having been unbeaten in the previous four (W3 D1).

• Basel's record against English teams is W7 D8 L13; away it is W1 D5 L8.

• Having avoided defeat on their first five trips to England in the UEFA Champions League (W1 D4), Basel have now lost their last two away games.

Gündoğan on 'perfect' City result

• Basel's record in two-legged knockout ties against English clubs is W1 L4. That sole victory came on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur FC in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (2-2 away, 2-2 home); they lost 5-2 to eventual winners Chelsea FC in the next round (1-2 home, 1-3 away), their most recent knockout contests against a Premier League team.

• Basel have lost all 11 of the UEFA competition ties in which they were defeated in the home first leg, most recently against Chelsea FC in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League semi-finals (1-2 home, 1-3 away).

• Although they have never before lost a home first leg 4-0, Basel's first tie in UEFA competition brought a 5-1 first-leg St. Jakob-Park reverse against Celtic FC in the 1963/64 European Cup Winners' Cup first round, setting up a 10-1 aggregate loss.

• Basel won their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
4-1 v Tottenham Hotspur FC, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-final

Coach and player links
• Guardiola oversaw Barcelona's 5-0 away win and 1-1 home draw against Basel in the 2008/09 group stage – a campaign that ended with Barça winning the competition, part of a treble of trophies they lifted that season including the Liga and Copa del Rey.

• Kyle Walker was in the Tottenham team beaten by Basel in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

• Fernandinho scored in Shakhtar's 2-1 win at Basel in the 2008/09 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Vincent Kompany helped Hamburger SV earn a 1-1 UEFA Cup draw at home to Basel in December 2007.

• Three of Fabian Frei's six European goals have come in England – including Basel's opener in a 3-3 draw at Manchester United in September 2011. He also scored in the 2-2 UEFA Cup quarter-final draw at Tottenham in April 2013 – Valentin Stocker getting the other – and a 1-1 draw at Liverpool FC in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Ricky van Wolfswinkel's goal proved crucial as Sporting Clube de Portugal ousted City in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg. The Dutch striker scored the second goal in a 3-2 away second-leg defeat, confirming an away-goals success after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

• Have played together:
Yaya Touré & Geoffroy Serey Dié (Ivory Coast, 2013–2015)

• Raheem Sterling set up England's first goal in a 2-0 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying away win against Switzerland at Basel's St. Jakob-Park in September 2014.

Match facts

Manchester City
UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Aymeric Laporte, Olexandr Zinchenko
Out: Jacob Davenport, Eliaquim Mangala, Charlie Oliver

• Danilo, İlkay Gündoğan and Fernandinho will incur a suspension with their next yellow cards.

• City have won all but four of their 29 Premier League games this season. They have lost just one of their last 37 league fixtures, winning 31 and drawing five.

• Sergio Agüero has 15 goals in 15 games in all competitions in 2018, and needs one more to become the first player to score 200 for City. His four-goal haul against Leicester City FC on 10 February was the third time he has managed four in a Premier League match; no other player can match that.

• City were without a win in three Premier League away games (D2 L1) before a 3-0 victory at Arsenal FC on 1 March. They beat Chelsea FC 1-0 at home on Sunday, Bernardo Silva scoring in both games.

• Josep Guardiola's side have won their last 13 home matches in all competitions, and 19 of their 21 games at the City of Manchester Stadium this season (D2); they are unbeaten in 36 home fixtures (W29 D7) stretching back to December 2016.

• City have scored 62 goals at home, conceding 13. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, in the English League Cup fourth round on 24 October, have prevented them scoring.

• Raheem Sterling has 15 Premier League goals this season – already six more than his previous best total of nine, with Liverpool FC in 2013/14.

• City claimed the first silverware of the English domestic season with a 3-0 victory against Arsenal in the League Cup final at Wembley on 25 February, thanks to goals from Agüero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva. It is the fifth time the Citizens have won the competition.

• Guardiola's side suffered a shock defeat at League 1 side Wigan Athletic FC in the FA Cup fifth round on 19 February, losing 1-0 – a repeat of the 2013 final, which City lost by the same scoreline. They were also been by the Latics in the 2013/14 quarter-final.

• Benjamin Mendy has not played since a cruciate knee injury on 23 September. Gabriel Jesus was out between 31 December and 25 February with a knee problem.

• Fernandinho picked up a hamstring injury in the League Cup final against Arsenal on 25 February, a match Raheem Sterling missed with a similar problem; neither has played since.

• City paid a reported club-record fee to sign 23-year-old defender Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Club in January.

• Kevin De Bruyne (2023), Fernandinho (2020) and Nicolás Otamendi (2022) all signed new contracts in January.

De Bruyne was included in the UEFA.com Fans' Team of the Year 2017. The Belgian will hand over a cheque from for €100,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) before the Basel match.

Basel
UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Fabian Frei, Léo Lacroix, Valentin Stocker
Out: Manuel Akanji, Alexander Fransson, Omar Gaber, Cédric Itten, Dereck Kutesa, Dominik Schmid, Renato Steffen

• Taulant Xhaka serves a one-match ban in this second leg; Éder Balanta and Raoul Petretta are a booking away from a suspension.

• Basel have lost four of their five games in 2018 – all without scoring.

• The Swiss Super League game at FC Lausanne-Sport on 24 February was postponed due to the condition of the pitch and has been rescheduled for 14 March.

• On 27 February Basel lost 2-0 at BSC Young Boys in the Swiss Cup semi-final.

• Basel suffered another league postponement on Saturday as their home game against FC Zürich was hit by a power failure.

• Éder Balanta has been out since the 2-0 home defeat at FC Thun on 10 February because of muscular problems.

• Luca Zuffi underwent foot surgery during the winter break, returning as a substitute in a 2-0 home defeat against FC St Gallen on 17 February.

• Goalkeeper Germano Vailati is a long-term absentee following shoulder surgery.