Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola are set to add one more chapter to the European rivalry they have shared since the former’s days at Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester City will be out for revenge when they host Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League Group A clash on Wednesday.

Clash of the titans: The heavy weight clash takes place with both teams potentially in line to seal their progress to the last 16 with a game to spare. City leads by one point from PSG, which is four ahead of Club Brugge.  If Leipzig beats Brugge away in the other game, City and PSG advance whatever the result in their game at Etihad Stadium.

City would guarantee topping the group with a victory and will be looking to make a statement after losing in Paris in the return fixture, which marked Lionel Messi’s first goal for PSG.

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Kevin De Bruyne is missing for City after contracting the coronavirus. 

Ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola has hailed counterpart Pochettino as an ‘excellent manager’. The Argentine comes to the game with much speculation surrounding his future at Parc des Princes. He failed to win a major trophy at Tottenham and missed out on the Ligue 1 title and Champions League with PSG last season.

“The managers that have the chance to win the titles are at top, top clubs with good investments and exceptional players. Otherwise, for managers, it is impossible to win. That doesn’t mean the managers in the Championship or not in the top six of the Premier League cannot be excellent managers in tactics, communication, leading. It’s not necessary to win titles,” Guardiola said. 

Also read: UCL: Chelsea youngsters on the mark as the Blues rout Juventus

The Spaniard also spoke about how difficult it can be to tame Lionel Messi. 

“It’s so difficult. Sometimes when he has the ball he doesn’t know what he’s going to do – so imagine you have to know what he is going to do,” said Guardiola.

“There are players who you can say if they will go right or left. When he has the ball, not even he knows exactly what he is going to do.”

Manchester City Predicted Starting line-up: Ederson Moraes (GK), Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Bernado Silva, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden

Paris Saint-Germain Predicted Starting line-up: Keylor Navas (GK), Hakimi, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe, Mendes, Marco Verratti, Gueye, Wijnaldum, Neymar, Mbappe, Lionel Messi