Erling Haaland should be licking his lips at the prospect of facing RB Leipzig as Manchester City continue their quest to ascend to the Champions League for the first time on Wednesday.
City will travel to Leipzig for the first leg of the round of 16 after they slipped off the top of the Premier League table on Saturday after a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
The combination of City’s excellent performance and striker Haaland against a Bundesliga team suggests they should secure a spot in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
Inter have the advantage at home when they face Porto in the other round of 16 first leg on Wednesday, and the Serie A team boasts an impressive home record against Portuguese clubs.
Stats Perform selects Opta’s outstanding data to preview matches at Red Bull Arena and San Siro.
RB Leipzig – Manchester City
Former Borussia Dortmund striker Haaland will return to Germany to face a club with whom he has fond memories.
The completion of the Norwegian national team brought him to the City Ground at the weekend, but Leipzig know all about the threat he poses.
Haaland scored six times in four games with Leipzig, scoring three doubles for them during his time at Dortmund.
City have only lost one of their previous 17 matches against German teams in the Champions League (W14 D2), with the Premier League champions averaging 2.6 goals per game in those matches. Their only loss was to Leipzig in the group stage last season, when Josep Guardiola’s side had already reached the round of 16.
However, Leipzig will be imagining their chances of causing an upset as they have won each of their last four Champions League matches, their best record in the competition.
Only Julian Nagelsmann in the 2019/20 season, when they reached the semi-finals, won more Champions League campaign matches (six) for RB Leipzig than Marco Rose’s four this season.
Inter – Porto
Porto will travel to Milan on an excellent unbeaten streak that began on 21 October.
Sergio Conceiçao has won 30 Champions League victories, more than any other Porto boss, and his 50 per cent win rate in the competition is second only to Julen Lopetegui’s 56 per cent during his tenure.
This will be the 10th time Inter have hosted a Portuguese team in European competition. They are undefeated in the previous nine – eight of which were victorious. The only team to avoid defeat was Boavista in a UEFA Cup goalless draw in 1991.
Edin Dzeko has been directly involved in four goals in six Champions League matches this season, scoring three goals and providing one assist. This is more than any other Inter player.
Porto have won four consecutive Champions League matches and will aim to repeat their longest winning streak in the competition, a five win streak between October and December 2018, which was also set by Conceição.
Mehdi Taremi has been directly involved in seven goals in five Champions League appearances for Porto this season – with five goals and two assists. This is more than a player has had in one campaign for the club since Moussa Marega, who scored eight in the 2018-19 campaign.