Setting the scene
Manchester City’s win against Barcelona during the last Champions League game week was absolutely vital for the Premier League club, giving Pep Guardiola’s men boost needed as they try and fight for the top spot in Group C.
Facing Borussia Mönchengladbach on Wednesday, a win against the German side would guarantee qualification for the next round, while a draw would be enough providing Barcelona win against Celtic in Scotland.
Gladbach, on the other hand, are in a trickier position, as anything but a win would erase all hope of a knockout round spot unless they draw and Celtic somehow pull off a great victory against Luis Enrique’s men at Celtic Park.
However, if Celtic lose to Barcelona and Gladbach draw, they will, at least, secure third spot in the group and continue their European adventure in the Europa League.
One to watch
The last time these two sides met back in September, Guardiola’s men truly thumped their German counterparts in a resounding 4-0 win.
Gladbach have only scored once in the league since the 24th of September, and if anyone in that team is going to provide the spark to create something out of thin air, it’s Thorgan Hazard.
The young Belgian was key in getting the German side in the competition in the first place, scoring a hat trick against BSC Young Boys in the return qualification leg, and his form for Gladbach recently earned him a call up to the Belgium squad over the last international break.
Scoring seven goals and picking up four assists in 14 appearances, the 23-year-old’s reconversion as a supporting striker has done him the world of good, allowing him to compete with his older brother Eden, at least when it comes to numbers.
Injuries and suspensions
André Schubert will have to make do without two key players due to suspensions as both Julian Korb and Christoph Kramer are serving one match bans.
Injury wise, the list is a long one: Josip Drmic (hyaline cartilage damage), Patrick Herrmann (ankle ligament tear), Marvin Schulz (hip flexor), Moritz Nicolas (thumb), Álvaro Domínguez (back) and Mamadou Doucouré (thigh) are all out ahead of the game against Manchester City.
Predicted line-up
Such a large number of absentees certainly makes life very difficult for André Schubert, meaning a rather makeshift side could end up facing Manchester City on Wednesday.
Tweaking his formation here and there at times throughout the first few months of the season, the base of the German manager’s philosophy is a 3-5-2, meaning we could end up seeing a very similar side to the one that lost 2-1 to Köln at the weekend.
Our twist, however, would be the inclusion of André Hahn instead of Raffael, using his pace to get behind City’s defence if possible.
Sport Witness’ predicted XI: Sommer, Vestergaard, Christensen, Elvedi, Traoré, Dahoud, Stindl (c), Strobl, Wendt, Hazard, Hahn.
