A Champions League encounter with significant ramifications takes place under the bright lights of the Etihad on Wednesday evening, as Manchester City play host to Belgian outfit Club Brugge.
Pep Guardiola's 25th-placed side are three points behind their 20th-placed opponents in the league phase table, but they possess a superior goal difference and will therefore be virtually guaranteed of a place in the playoffs should they prevail on the eighth league phase matchday.
However, a draw or defeat against Club Brugge will eliminate the Premier League champions, who capitulated in a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last time out, whereas their Jupiler Pro League foes held Juventus to a goalless stalemate.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
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Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 2
Man City wins: 2
Draws: 0
Brugge wins: 0
Manchester City and Club Brugge collided for the first time during the league phase of the 2021-22 Champions League season, and Pep Guardiola's men were unsurprisingly a class above their less revered foes on both occasions.
The inaugural meeting between Man City and Club Brugge ended in a 5-1 success for the Premier League giants at the Jan Breydel Stadium, just two weeks before an almost equally emphatic 4-1 win on home soil.
City's 5-1 triumph in October 2021 was a momentous occasion for a former Etihad starboy, as Cole Palmer - now making nets bulge for fun at Chelsea - scored his first goal in European competition.
The England international bagged City's fourth of the night following earlier strikes from Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez, the latter of whom struck once more late on after Hans Vanaken had netted a consolation for Brugge.
Mahrez also flexed his attacking powers when Club Brugge visited the Etihad a fortnight later, where the two sides were level at 1-1 heading into the break thanks to a Phil Foden strike and freak John Stones own goal, as Bernardo Silva's sliced clearance struck the defender square in the face and nestled into the net.
However, Mahrez restored the Citizens' advantage early in the second half, before Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus also got in on the act, and there was time for the aforementioned Palmer to make his home European debut too.
Thanks to their humbling result at the Etihad and other mishaps away to Premier League teams, Club Brugge head to Manchester this week having failed to win any of their 14 European games in England.
That represents the third-worst record for a single club; only Brugge's Belgian counterparts Anderlecht (19) and Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kiev (15) have played more European matches on English soil without ever coming up trumps.
Previous meetings
Nov 03, 2021: Man City 4-1 Brugge (Champions League Group Stage)
Oct 19, 2021: Brugge 1-5 Man City (Champions League Group Stage)
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Ben Knapton
