LONDON: Manchester City, the form team in Europe, resumes its latest bid to win the Champions League for the first time with a first-leg match against Borussia Monchengladbach in the last 16.
City has won its last 18 matches in all competitions and is facing a team which hasn't reached the knockout stage of Europe's top competition since getting to the European Cup semifinals in 1978.
City, though, has yet to advance beyond the quarterfinals since Pep Guardiola joined in 2016.
Real Madrid traveled to Bergamo with a squad decimated by injuries.
Forward Karim Benzema did not recover in time and remained in Spain, along with captain Sergio Ramos and a number of other players.
Madrid will still be the outstanding favorite as the 13-time European champion visits Atalanta, which is making only its second appearance in the competition.
Atalanta will have poignant memories of the same stage last season.
The Champions League outsider beat Valencia 4-1 in the first leg but the joy was shortlived as, days later, Bergamo became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
The match was dubbed Game Zero by media.