Schalke secured their spot in the round of 16 by finishing second in Group D with eleven points from three wins, two draws, and a single loss. They are in the last 16 round for the first time since 2014/15, when they lost to Real Madrid. The German club is without a win in their last five games against English clubs. Their most recent triumph against an English opposition was a 2-0 victory against Arsenal in 2012.
Manchester City ended their Group F campaign at the top of the table. They won thirteen points from four wins, a draw, and a loss. Manchester City are in the knockout stages for the sixth year in a row and have won two of their previous three round of 16 ties. In the season of 2017/18, they went to the quarter-finals and were defeated by Liverpool. Citizens’ best UEFA Champions League result came in 2015/16 when they reached the semi-finals. They have won three of their last five games in Germany, with the remaining two ending as a draw and a loss.
The two clubs have faced each other just once, in the Europa League in 2008 when Manchester City triumphed by the score of 0-2. When taking into consideration how they’ve played in the recent matches, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
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Possible starting lineups
Schalke: Fahrmann; Oczipka, Nastasic, Sane, Caligiuri; Rudy, Bentaleb; Konoplyanka, McKennie, Uth; Burgstaller
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Silva, Aguero, Sterling
Missing players
Schalke have several missing players for the match against Citizens. Breel Embolo, Alessandro Schöpf and Steven Skrzybski are injured and they will not play on Wednesday night. Omar Mascarell is suspended and he is another one player who can’t play.
Manchester City also have some missing players for this game. Claudio Bravo, Benjamin Mendy and Vincent Kompany are injured and they will not play in Gelsenkierchen. John Stones and Gabriel Jesus are not fully fit and they are doubtful for the match. All other players are ready to play and they will play very cautious from the first minute.