Pep Guardiola will be looking to break a Champions League winning record set by Carlo Ancelotti when Manchester City lock horns with Bayern Munich for the second leg of their quarter-final at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
The Citizens secured a commanding 3-0 first-leg triumph over their Bavarian counterparts at the Etihad Stadium last week courtesy of goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Braut Haaland.
Man City travel to Germany in buoyant mood having put together a 10-game winning streak in all competitions, including last weekend's 3-1 home success over Leicester City in the Premier League.
Guardiola and co are now focused on finishing the job against Bayern in the Champions League last eight as they bid to reach the semi-finals for the third successive season.
Man City's first-leg victory over the Bundesliga giants was Guardiola's 99th as a manager in the Champions League; the Catalan's record includes 46 wins for the Citizens, 23 for Bayern and 30 for Barcelona.
© Reuters
Should City come out on top against Bayern on Wednesday, Guardiola will become just the third manager in Champions League history to reach 100 wins in the competition.
The 52-year-old is on the verge of joining an exclusive group along with Real Madrid boss Ancelotti (105 wins) and former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (102 wins).
Success on Wednesday for the Citizens would also see Guardiola become the quickest manager in Champions League history to reach a century of victories, doing so after just 158 games.
Guardiola would comfortably surpass the previous record-holder Ancelotti, who required 180 games to reach 100 wins in the competition, while Ferguson recorded a century of triumphs in 184 matches.
Man City – who have scored the joint-most goals (25 along with Napoli) in this season's Champions League – have a strong record against German opposition in Europe's premier club competition, winning 16 and drawing three of their last 20 matches.
© Lime Pictures
Guardiola has encouraged his Citizens side to take an 'aggressive' approach to their second-leg clash at the Allianz Arena, telling mancity.com: "We have a final [on Wednesday] against Bayern Munich and I know the character and personality they have with their players and the mentality.
"We have to work a lot and be stable mentally in our bad moments. We have to go there so aggressive to win the game, to score goals and win the game. This is the mindset I have – and I would like to put that in the mind of my players.
"We will watch the first game back and see what things we can do better and prevent the good things they can do and try to win the game.
"We need a lot of energy for Wednesday but that energy comes from here [points to the head], not from the legs – how your mentality will be in Munich playing against a top, top team.
"We have to see if we can play as we have done at home and show great courage to impose our game. If we are going there to be a little bit passive in our game, they are able to do like we are able to do here [in the first leg at the Etihad]. We are able to do many, many good things and they are able to do it [too]."
Guardiola is not the only man at Man City seeking to break records on Wednesday, as goal machine Haaland is out to surpass a Champions League scoring feat currently held by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
No Data Analysis info