Schalke vs Man City preview: Pep Guardiola says City must 'be themselves'

Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to show their true colours if they are to shake off their Champions League hoodoo.

City have been eliminated in the last-16 three times in the last five seasons, despite winning the Premier League twice in that time including a record-breaking 100-point tally in the last campaign.

Guardiola's side made it to the quarter-finals last season before an emphatic defeat to Liverpool over two legs, but he wants City to be themselves if they are to go further this time around.

Ahead of Wednesday night's last-16 first-leg tie away to Schalke (kick-off 8pm), he said: "You can't go through in these competitions if you're not yourself. Sooner or later you'll be out, here, the quarters.

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"If you want to dream of the latter stages you have to be yourself, incredible every minute. It's a challenge.

"We have to control our emotions, suffer the bad moments, The right moments make the difference.

"We are confident. We arrive with many dreams in our heads. We want to try and score goals. We will try to get a good result to finish the job in Manchester."

Schalke coach Domenico Tedesco told reporters his side, currently fifth-bottom of the Bundesliga, would have to be at their best to get anything from the game at the Veltins-Arena.

"We are the clear underdogs in the game, that much is obvious," he said. "But we deserve to be here because we advanced deservedly from a group of good teams.

"We have to have a perfect day if we are to get anything out of the game. We owe it to us and to Schalke."

Team news

City have been boosted by the return to training of defenders Vincent Kompany, Benjamin Mendy and Eliaquim Mangala, with the trio having all been out with injuries.

However, John Stones and Gabriel Jesus will both be absent due to respective groin and hamstring injuries.

For Schalke, Omar Mascarell will miss the game through suspension while Breel Embolo and Steven Skrzybski are both short of fitness and Alessandro Schopf a long-term absentee.

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Opta stats

• Schalke and Manchester City are facing each other in a third different European competition after the Cup Winners Cup (1969/70 semi-final) and UEFA Cup (2008/09 group stages)
• In April 1970, Manchester City beat Schalke 5-2 on aggregate in the Cup Winners Cup semi-final - they would later win their first and so far only European trophy with a 2-1 victory in the final against Górnik Zabrze
• Manchester City are unbeaten in their last seven Champions League games against German opponents (W6 D1) since a 0-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in September 2014 - current Man City boss Pep Guardiola was in charge of Bayern that day
• Schalke have been knocked out in the round of 16 in each of their last three Champions League appearances - 2010/11 was the last time they made it past that stage, reaching the semi-finals
• Schalke are unbeaten in their last nine European home games (W6 D3) - they last went longer without a home defeat between July 2003 and November 2004 (11 games). They are looking to win three consecutive home Champions League games for the first time since April 2011, when they reached the semi-final of the competition
• Schalke scored six goals in this season's group stages, the lowest tally amongst the 16 clubs left in the competition, with five of those six goals coming after half-time. However, only Borussia Dortmund (5) kept more clean sheets than Schalke (4)
• Manchester City have lost five of their eight Champions League knockout games away from home, winning two (Dynamo Kiev in February 2016, Basel in February 2018) and drawing one
• No Schalke player scored more than one goal or delivered more than one assist in this season's Champions League group stages
• No player delivered more assists than Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez in the Champions League group stages this season (4, level with Kylian Mbappé and Memphis Depay)
• Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has won the Champions League on two occasions as a manager (2009 & 2011, both with Barcelona); a third trophy would equal Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti and Bob Paisley's record. He's also reached the semi-finals in seven of his nine previous seasons as manager but hasn't made the final since 2011

Charlie's Prediction

It's a stunning draw for Manchester City.

It's not a game they need to force. Schalke will be just trying to stay in the tie as they don't want to be going to the Etihad behind. Schalke will play on the counter, even though they are at home, and that suits City. The times that Schalke threaten, they will then probably be picked off. City have found a ruthless streak again, they look clinical at the moment, and I think they will have too much for Schalke.

Pep Guardiola is in one cup final, in the quarter-finals of another, and has a massive group who are all competing to get in the team, and I think the Champions League probably just edges it in terms of priorities for City this season. Winning back-to-back Premier League titles is very difficult but if City win the Champions League, it would be huge for them and people at the club would probably say this is the most significant trophy.

CHARLIE PREDICTS: Man City to win 3-1 and Sane and Sterling to score (40/1 with Sky Bet)

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