Raheem Sterling (R) of Manchester City battles for possession with Nico Elvedi of Borussia Monchengladbach in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first-leg game at Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, February 24, 2021. /CFP
At the end of their first game two weeks ago, the result of the second leg in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 between Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach felt like the most obvious foregone conclusion in sports.
The current Premier League leaders and future Premier League 2020/21 champions dictated every part of their 2-0 win over this year's Bundesliga entrants. It never felt forced, hurried, or even particularly intense, Pep Guardiola's men looked to just be unplayable. It genuinely seemed like it wasn't 3-0, 4-0, or more because they didn't want to win by that margin, not because they couldn't win by that margin.
Then on March 7, something snapped. Manchester City themselves were beaten 2-0 by Manchester United. Not only was their incredible 28-game unbeaten run ended, but United also showed how a scrappier team could pierce the armor of City.
L-R: Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne, and Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City celebrate after scoring a goal in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first-leg game against Basel at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, February 13, 2018. /CFP
This should have been a blueprint for Monchengladbach to work from, and perhaps it will be when they face each other tonight. Pep has even come out and tempered fan expectation of a potential quadruple or treble victory this year. However, as it stands, the derby may have been a set of instructions the German side lack the tools to carry out.
Based on Monchengladbach's remarkable success, the other Borussia – Dortmund – poached manager Marco Rose to be theirs in the next season. Since that news was broken, Monchengladbach haven't won a game. The last time that happened was on January 22. In the next seven Bundesliga games, they've lost six, drawn once, and have a cumulative goal tally of 10-6.
Guardiola has a reputation of overthinking big games – the Manchester Derby loss being the most recent – however rested several key players during this past week's easy win over Fulham. Kevin de Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, and this season's best player Ilkay Gundogan meaning they will be at full strength, meaning he and his squad should have no problem dispatching Monchengladbach with a two-goal head start already.