'Club Brugge game is like a final': Manchester City face shock CL upset

'Club Brugge game is like a final': Manchester City face shock CL upset
Credit: Belga / AFP

In what could be a historic night, Club Brugge have a chance to knock out Premier League champions Manchester City out of the Champions League on Wednesday night.

The Belgian side face a hotly-contested game at Manchester City’s Etihad stadium for Europe's most prestigious club competition.

If Club Brugge manage to pull off a result, they could make history and eliminate one of the richest clubs in the world. But the Blauw-zwart [Black-and-Blues] will be happy with one point, which would still see them progress to the next round.

Under the Champions League’s new league table system, the top 24 teams will qualify onto the next round. Club Brugge are currently sitting 20th with 11 points, while City are 25th with 8 points.

City’s bad run of form in Europe has seen them with only 1 win in 5 games. On Wednesday night, Pep Guardiola’s men need three points to stay in the competition.

'We want to be in next stage'

"We only have one option: to win the game." Pep Guardiola told a press conference on Tuesday on the eve of Manchester City's visit to Club Brugge. "It's not a problem but rather an opportunity, a challenge that we're going to take up."

Among the City players, their game is not being underestimated. "Tomorrow is a final for us. We want to be in the next stage," City's midfielder Josko Gvardiol said on Tuesday.

The last time Manchester City failed to progress out of the group stages of the Champions League was in 2012/13. City's problems off the field have not help the team's recent slump in form, which has also seen them drop down in the Premier League title race.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. Credit: Belga / AFP

Win or draw

On Wednesday night, Club Brugge are hoping for a win or a draw at the Etihad – needing only one point to secure qualification to Friday's draw for the next round.

"We are here to get one point. They are a dominant team with a lot of quality. We need to stay compact, not overly defensive. They can break lines with a single pass, so we need a perfect game for 90 minutes," Brugge’s coach Nicky Hayen said in a press conference on Tuesday.

With their current position, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, PSG, Stuttgart, Manchester City and Dinamo Zagreb, could still overtake Club Brugge on points.

Club Brugge's players pictured ahead of a Italian club Juventus, Tuesday 21 January 2025 in Brugge. Credit: Belga / Kurt Desplenter

If more than four of these teams do so on the final match day, Club Brugge will drop out of the top 24 and face elimination from the competition. Goal difference will be decisive in the event of a tie, and Club Brugge currently has a negative goal difference (-2).

Should Club Brugge lose at the Etihad Stadium, and Benfica, PSG, Sporting, and Stuttgart all earn at least a point, Club Brugge would miss the top 24 due to their negative goal difference. This is a possible scenario, but Club Brugge fans can take comfort in data from OPTA, which calculates a 93.9% chance of qualification for the team.

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