The fans are Dragao Stadium saw a match worthy of Champions League knockout rounds and the two sides are the perfect proof that Europa League is no longer a second-rate competition. Porto were unlucky to record a 2-1 defeat in the first leg, and the Portuguese side arrive to Etihad hoping to make thing right and qualify for the next round.

Lucky win in Portugal

Manchester City traveled to Portugal in good spirits following the Premier League victories over Fulham and Aston Villa, but the Citizens found themselves on the back foot throughout the game. Roberto Mancini’s side looked unable to cope with Porto’s impressive firepower at times and they were lucky not to conceded more than one goal. City did show some improvement in the second half and while they were lucky to score an equalizer, the English side did well to win the game when Sergio Aguero rounded off a brilliant team play. The Citizens are now in a great position before the return leg seeing that Porto have got to open up and that will leave the hosts a lot of space to exploit. After scoring two goals at Dragao, Roberto Mancini’s side can be trusted to continue the good scoring form, but they will have to be wary of one of the best attacks in European football.

Roberto Mancini has no fresh injury worries, but he is, nonetheless expected to make a couple of changes, with Aleksandar Kolarov, Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta pushing for starting places.

Very good performance in the first leg

Having been the dominant force on domestic stage during the last ten years, Porto have finally found a worthy opponent in Benfica and the two teams are locked in a very interesting battle for the league title. On the other hand, the Dragons did disappoint their fans when they failed to ensure progress to the Champions League stages, although they did everything they could to stay in the competition and were very unfortunate not to win the final group game against Zenit, having completely outclassed their opponents. Vitor Pereira’s side, nonetheless, proved they are still a force to be reckoned with in European football by outplaying Premier League leaders Manchester City, but once again they couldn’t get what they deserved with their performances. Boasting players like Lucho Gonzalez, James Rodriguez, Hulk and Varela, the Dragons can be forgiven for feeling they can beat City at Etihad and everything suggests we will see another entertaining game between two evenly matched sides.

Eliaquim Mangala is set to replace injured Danilo, whereas Emidio Rafael and Marc Janko remain unavailable.

Verdict

We should see a very interesting game between two attack-minded sides and I would be really surprised to see either of the managers adopt a cautious approach. We are likely to see a very open game at Etihad and odds offered on both teams to score look too good to pass up.

Our prediction: Both teams to score

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: Paddy Power