Manchester City continues its Champions League campaign on Tuesday by hosting Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals first leg. Dortmund star Erling Haaland enters the contest having scored in all of his European outings this season.
Haaland is the first player in history to score twice in four consecutive Champions League games and bookmaker 10Bet has the odds at 7.25 for him to stretch the streak to five games.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 5th, 5:00 P.M. (EST)
City will be protecting the second-longest shutout streak in Champions League history against Haaland and Dortmund going into the matchup with the last goal conceded 706 minutes ago. Arsenal owns the all-time record with 995 minutes.
In total, City have recorded 28 clean sheets in 47 games across all competitions in 2020-21, so if any team can stop Haaland then it should be Pep Guardiola’s side. However, it remains to be seen if it will be enough to get through to the next stage.
Guardiola has managed to lead them past the quarter-finals just once since arriving at the club in 2016. He has been criticized for overthinking his team selection and tactics during European nights.
The Cityzens, who made their Champions League debut in 2011-12, have managed to win just six of 12 home games in the knockout stages in the competition.
Haaland is the Champions League’s leading scorer this season with 10 goals and he has netted 33 times in total in 32 appearances in all competitions. It’s been a phenomenal year by the 20-year-old, who is linked with all the top clubs in Europe, including City.
With Dortmund struggling to make it back into the Champions League via the Bundesliga, it seems almost certain that it’s Haaland’s final year at the club. He’ll be looking to go out with a bang and considering City’s defensive record, getting on the scoreboard in the Champions League quarter-finals would be very special.
Dortmund currently sits fifth in the Bundesliga table having managed only four wins in the past 12 rounds. Haaland has been striking fear into defenders up and down the land, but the team has had a real struggle keeping the ball out of their own net conceding at least two goals seven times in the past 11 league outings.
It could turn really ugly here if interim head coach Edin Terzic doesn’t sort out his defense. Guardiola’s team has been mainly praised for their work at the back this season, but they also remain a world-class offensive side – there are nine different players with at least five goals scored in all competitions and the list doesn’t include City’s all-time leading scorer Sergio Agüero.
