Manchester City will begin their quest to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time ever when they travel to Ukraine to take on Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their last-16 tie this evening.
The Citizens have been handed arguably the easiest tie of any of the Premier League sides in this season's competition and, following defeats for Chelsea and Arsenal, will look to fly the flag for England in Europe at the Kiev Olympic Stadium.
Dynamo Kiev
© Getty ImagesFor Dynamo Kiev, this match brings the long-awaited return of competitive football to the club having not yet resumed their season after the winter break.
Kiev's last competitive outing was the final matchday of the Champions League group stages on December 9, in which they edged past whipping boys Maccabi Tel Aviv to book their place in the knockout rounds.
Such a long absence could well play a part in this fixture, but Kiev were at least in good form before taking the annual break.
They have won each of their last six competitive outings since a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in November, keeping five clean sheets and conceding just one goal in that time. Indeed all season they have been a difficult team to beat, with only two defeats in their 25 outings.
They have already surpassed expectations by reaching this stage of the Champions League having been drawn in a group alongside Chelsea and Porto. A surprise away victory over the latter was the key result in Group G as Kiev edged the Portuguese side to second place by one point.
Their reward is a place in the knockout rounds of this competition for the first time since 1999-2000, when current manager Sergiy Rebrov led the line for the side. He later, of course, went on to play in England for Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, even scoring a winning goal against Man City during his time with Spurs.
Domestically, Kiev are currently embroiled in a two-way battle at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League, sitting level on points with Shakhtar Donetsk after 16 games, with both sides having dropped just five points from a possible 48 so far this season.
Kiev's only league defeat of the campaign came against Shakhtar with a damaging 3-0 reverse at home, a scoreline that accounts for half of the league-best tally of six goals that Rebrov's side have conceded all season.
It is also their only home defeat in their last 38 outings in all competitions - a run that that stretches back to April 2014. In Europe, they are currently on a nine-game unbeaten home run, although they have only won one of their last five in the Champions League.
The biggest test for Kiev in this match may well be their fitness levels, with Man City having played 16 games since the hosts last featured in a competitive match. Dynamo have, of course, played in friendlies in the intervening months, winning seven, drawing three and losing three of those, but returning to action in such a high-profile game will be a tough ask.
Recent form: DWDLWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Man City
© Getty ImagesSimply put, the next few days could well make or break Manchester City's season.
It has been a damaging February for the club so far, with back-to-back home defeats against title rivals Leicester City and Tottenham in the Premier League leaving them six points adrift of the leaders.
With that trophy slipping away, attention turned to the FA Cup at the weekend, but Manuel Pellegrini made his priorities clear by naming six teenagers and five full debutants in his side to face the reigning English champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
For many it was seen as sacrificing the FA Cup in favour of the Champions League, and it was no surprise to see Chelsea run out such comfortable winners in the end, cruising through to the quarter-finals courtesy of a 5-1 triumph.
It made it three defeats on the bounce for City, their worst run since November 2010, and you have to go back almost 10 years, long before the current era of success arrived, for the last time they fell to four in a row.
Things look a lot grimmer now than they did just a couple of weeks ago, then, but with the League Cup final against Liverpool fast approaching on Sunday, they could end a torrid month by lifting the first piece of silverware this season.
Victory tonight would also put them in a very strong position to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time ever, and they certainly have their best chance yet on paper. Kiev were widely regarded as one of the kindest draws available to City, who have run into Barcelona at this stage of the past two years.
They have already broken new ground in the competition this season, progressing as group winners for the first time ever, even beating last season's runners-up Juventus to top spot in Group D. The concern, though, will be that they lost both of their matches against the Italian champions, which hints that they are not yet at the level of Europe's elite.
The impending arrival of two-time Champions League winner Pep Guardiola is a clear indication that European domination is what City's owners want, but Pellegrini will be eager to sign out with the legacy of taking the club further than ever before.
He himself has been to the quarter-finals with both Villarreal and Malaga in the past, and the Citizens will be favourites to make it a treble for the Chilean in his final season at the club.
Recent form: LWWWLW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWLLL
Team News
© Getty ImagesAfter the weakened side named in the FA Cup on Sunday, Pellegrini will recall the big guns for tonight's match in Kiev.
The likes of Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero are all expected to return to the side, with the latter having scored 15 goals in his last 16 Champions League starts.
Pellegrini also has Eliaquim Mangala back available following a 10-game absence due to a hamstring injury, but both he and Bacary Sagna (knee) are doubts to make the starting XI.
Fabian Delph, Kevin De Bruyne, Samir Nasri, Jesus Navas and Wilfried Bony are all still sidelined.
Kiev have a major question mark over their star player Andriy Yarmolenko, who picked up a knee injury during their last competitive outing on December 9 and has not featured in any of the friendlies since.
Junior Moraes is expected to start despite picking up an injury in training camp, while Sergiy Rybalka and Sergey Sydorchuk are also hoping to prove their fitness in time, but Antunes will definitely miss out through suspension.
Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup:
Shovkovsky; Danilo Silva, Khacheridi, Dragovic, Makarenko; Rybalka, Sydorchuk, Husyev, Garmash, Gonzalez; Junior Moraes
Man City possible starting lineup:
Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi, Clichy; Fernando, Fernandinho; Silva, Toure, Sterling; Aguero
Head To Head
These two sides have come up against each other once before in European action, with Dynamo Kiev emerging victorious with a 2-1 aggregate victory in the 2010-11 Europa League last 16.
Manchester City lost 2-0 in Kiev on that occasion on what is their only previous visit to Ukraine, before winning 1-0 in the return fixture.
Kiev, meanwhile, have only lost two of their 13 previous home games against English opposition (W5 D6), including a goalless draw with Chelsea in this season's group stages.
English teams have failed to win any of their last five away games against Ukrainian opposition since Manchester United's 4-2 triumph over Dynamo Kiev in October 2007.
We say: Dynamo Kiev 0-1 Manchester City
City do not come into this match in good form at all, but their key players have had a decent rest ahead of this game and Kiev are severely lacking match practice themselves. The likes of Aguero, Silva and Toure should have too much for the home side, who will already be fairly satisfied with having made it this far in the competition.
