It’s Time for Man City to Shine in Champions League

Hoffenheim vs Manchester City

Pep Guardiola takes his Manchester City to Hoffenheim this week in the second round of the Champions League, and it’s fair to say he needs a result.

Both teams have regrets from their opening Champions League 2018 results, with Hoffenheim conceding a late equaliser and Manchester City losing their game. And that makes this fixture rather more important, particularly for the English champions as they try to shake off their reputation as European new boys.

Talking Points

Manchester City are the current Champions League 2018 betting favourites vs Hoffenheim — Pep Guardiola’s men are eyeing a win after ending their last UCL match in a draw

Pep Guardiola’s team has a lot to live up to in the Premier League, but they are yet to be established as a major force in Europe.

The Champions League 2018 betting markets have installed them as early favourites; however, a shock home defeat to Lyon in their first foray of the season has cast doubts over their European credentials once again.

The Sky Blues are still favourites to lift the trophy next May at odds of 5.50 with SBOBET football, but the long-suffering City fans must have wondered whether they were catching a Euro cold yet again. Guardiola spent the game against Lyon in the stands after he was handed a touchline ban, and that maybe shows just how important the coach is to his players.

They have been in impressive form in the league, drawing just one game against a dangerous Wolves team and returning back to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Brighton on Saturday. Sergio Aguero was on target again and the Argentine striker just seems to be getting better and better.

Pep will tell his players they can make up ground quickly in Group F as Hoffenheim drew 2-2 in their opener, with Julian Nagelsmann’s men surely disappointed after dropping points despite leading twice against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Nagelsmann’s team has an attacking threat, primarily in the form of Andrej Kramaric who scored a late penalty in a 1-2 home defeat to RB Leipzig this weekend. The Croatian striker has quick feet and an eye for goal, and he has a good foil alongside him in six-foot-four target-man Adam Szalai who has also been in the goals this season.

Die Kraichgauer have shown they can be a big player in the Bundesliga, winning a Champions League place for the first time in elevated company. And although it has been a mixed start to the domestic season with just two wins and seven points from the opening six games, they can boast that they took a point against the highly fancied BVB.

History

Champions League 2018 results, — Julian Nagelsmann’s side are aiming for their first UCL win

This is the first meeting between Hoffenheim and Manchester City, primarily because the Germans haven’t been around the high echelons of football for long. They are not the most popular team in the Bundesliga, having benefited from the huge investment of software billionaire Dietmar Hopp. But since arriving in the top division, they have improved steadily and finished third last season.

Moreover, in Nagelsmann, they have one of the best young coaches in world football—though he is set to head off to Leipzig in the summer.

Ask any Manchester United supporter and they’ll point out the similarities between Hoffenheim and Manchester City. After decades in the wilderness, the Sky Blues landed huge investment in 2008 when the Abu Dhabi group took over, and over the past ten years, they have become one of the best and most powerful clubs on the planet.

City fans will remind us, of course, that their beloved team won the League in 1968, and who can begrudge them their present success after living in the shadow of their neighbours for so long?

Hoffenheim have won only one of the nine European matches they have played in, and the only time they hosted an English side, it came out on the end of a 1-2 defeat to Liverpool in last year’s Champions League play-offs.

But the Sky Blues have not always travelled well in Germany, winning just once in ten attempts, losing six and drawing three.

Betting Tip

	Hoffenheim vs Manchester City	Under 3.25 goals @ 2.03
	October 03, 00:55 (GMT+8)

I think Die Kraichgauer will give the favourites a good game. Still searching for their first Champions League win and with home advantage, they will not roll over.

While both teams have potent attacks, I expect Nagelsmann to set his team up to frustrate. Hoffenheim are at very long odds of 8.00 to win this home game, but that could be quite a temptation given Manchester City’s struggles in Germany. The Sky Blues are at 1.36 with the draw at 4.70.

Manchester City don’t always make it easy for themselves, particularly in Europe, but their fans will feel more relaxed if they can take control of the game early on. A Half Time/Full Time result of Away-Away will pay them odds of 1.79.