UEFA Champions League: Where to watch Sporting CP vs Manchester City live on Feb 15

Themenbereiche: TV Schedules, TV Listings, UEFA Champions League, Man City, Sporting CP

Man City face Portuguese side Sporting CP in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie at the José Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday.

Sporting CP will welcome Man City to the José Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday with the pair set to feature in the first-leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie. The hosts are in the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time since the 2008-09 season, when they lost 12-1 on aggregate to Bayern Munich, and there is no doubt that they are the heavy underdogs in this two-legged match against the English champions.

Last season's Portuguese Primeira Liga winners endured a series of tough battles to emerge out of Group C, finishing being Ajax and subsequently forcing the demotion of Borussia Dortmund to the Europa League. Out of the six games played, they were able to secure three wins and recorded the same number of losses, and were only able to get the edge over their German rivals on a head-to-head basis.

The Lions will enter the upcoming meeting with Man City off a 2-2 stalemate with Porto in the league on Friday, in which five players were sent off. The result put the Ruben Amorin's side in second place in the domestic table, six points behind leaders Porto after the same amount of games. In the context of their involvement in European football, they will well fancy their chances as they been victorious in seven of their last nine home games. It is worth noting that beating the Citizens will not be a new development, as they managed to do so in the Europa League last-16 stage in 2012, winning on away goals after a 3-3 draw.

The biggst takeaway, nonetheless, remains that the two sides are not the same as they were in the encounter a decade ago. With Manchester City having grown from strength to strength, the host wil be required to put on their best show to stand a chance against one of the favourites for the competition this season. Pep Guardiola's side are the team to beat and they will be out to stamp their dominance once more when they take to the José Alvalade on Tuesday night.

Last season, the Citizens successfully reached the finals of the competition but were denied their first-ever European title by league rivals Chelsea. This season, the objective is to reach the final for the second time in succession and potentially crack the code and win it. They will go into the upcoming encounter with Sporting on the back of a 4-0 win over Norwich City in the Premier League this weekend, which moved them 12 points clear of second-placed Liverpool atop the chart.

In the Champions League, they have impressed as well, winning Group A after finishing a point above Paris Saint-Germain. Of the six games they played, they won four and lost two. In retrospect, the Premier League champions have remarkably won 13 of their last 20 away European matches, and have featured in the last-16 of this competition in each of the last nine seasons.

Head to head record

The two clubs have only met once in a competitive match, in the UEFA Europa League last-16 in March 2012. City won 3-2 in the second leg at Etihad Stadium, but were eliminated from the competition due to the away goals rule after suffering a 1-0 defeat in Portugal.

What are the managers saying ahead of Sporting CP vs Man City?

Rúben Amorim, Sporting CP coach: "Our tactics could change. We have several players who can play in different positions. When we look at City we realise that we cannot manipulate our team to cover all the spaces because they change. We will try to impose ourselves on the game. We're not going to change anything about our identity."

"Guardiola is the best coach in the world today and Manchester City are the most evolved team in technical and tactical terms. It's like I'm in elementary school and he's in higher education. He's a reference to all managers."

Guardiola, Man City manager: "We have had an incredible run, but especially, we have behaved well. In Leipzig [on Matchday 6] we weren't ready mentally after already qualifying, but the rest [of the campaign] was good. I say every day, we compete for ourselves. Every three days, we've done that for the past years, and we will do that again tomorrow."

"The harmony right now is exceptional. Thanks to the captains and many reasons. It is exceptional. We know each other well. It's been six seasons, we know each other perfectly. We accept the good things, the bad things, to fight and be part of that."

Predicted starting XI for Sporting CP vs Man City

Sporting: Adan; Inacio, Coates, Feddal; Porro, Nunes, Palhinha, Reis; Sarabia, Paulinho, Goncalves
Man City: Ederson; Stones, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; B Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.