Manchester City have qualified for the semi-final of this season’s Champions League after beating Paris Saint Germain over the two legged quarter-final tie. The Manchester Blues will face Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid in the next stage in order to determine this year’s finalists for the coveted trophy.
However, prior to the high profile clash, the Citizens meet reigning Premier League champions at Stamford Brige on Sunday. The visitors will certainly be motivated by the fantastic result in the European competition.
On the other hand, Chelsea lost their tenth game of the season at Swansea on Saturday. The reigning Premier League champions had lost only three times throughout their last campaign, at the end of which they clinched the league title after securing 89 points. After a disastrous start to the 2015 – 2016 season, the Blues found stability after the appointment of Guus Hiddink.
Last week, Chelsea announced that the Italian coach, Antonio Conte, will take over the helm at Stamford Bridge next season. Can it affect their performances until the end of this season? Manchester City also suffered similar repercussions as the news of Guardiola’s appointment arguably affected the team’s results in all competitions.
Chelsea need to bounce back from the defeat at the Liberty Stadium at the weekend. The West Londoners are tenth in the league table and they cannot afford any more slip-ups if they want to stand a chance of grabbing the Europa League spot.
Manchester City beat West Brom 2 – 1 at the Etihad on Saturday. The Citizens are regaining their form after Kevin de Bruyne’s return from injury. However, their opponents on upcoming Saturday have a slightly better league form than them. Chelsea have won three and drawn two of their last six Premier League games while Pellegrini’s City have three wins and two losses from their last six league games.
Manchester City defeated the Londoners 3 – 0 in their first clash of the season at the Etihad, in August 2015. Aguero, Kompany and Fernandinho netted one each in the big win over Mourinho’s men. But, Chelsea avenged the loss with a big 5 – 1 triumph, which resulted in City’s elimination from the FA Cup in February 2016. It will be an exciting contest at the Stamford Bridge, and most Manchester United fans will be hoping for a Chelsea win as they have a good chance of closing the gap back to a point.