Rivaldo thinks Man City will breeze through Champions League second leg

After the dust settles from Manchester City’s thrilling title clash with Liverpool, their attention switches back to the Champions League this week as they travel to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Former Champions League winner, Rivaldo doesn’t think Manchester City should face too many problems in the reverse fixture as they take a one-goal lead with them to Spain.

“Only one team tried to play football in Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final first leg win over Atletico Madrid. The Spanish side simply defended all the time,” Rivaldo told Betfair.

Diego Simeone made three changes to his side at the weekend as they slumped towards a 1-0 defeat at RCD Mallorca.

Atletico Madrid didn’t register a single shot in the first leg and it’s fair to say that Rivaldo was less than impressed with their efforts.

“Of course, they were expected to be cautious, but they needed to try to hurt their opponent at some point. That simply didn’t happen, with City having over 70% possession.

“If I was playing for a big team such as Atletico I would be embarrassed to defend for 90 minutes, especially in a squad with sharp offensive players like Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suárez and João Félix.”

The Spanish side are unbeaten in their last four home matches, but Rivaldo is fully expecting Man City to quality for the next round.

“City will qualify in Madrid since Atleti will need to go for goals in Wednesday’s second leg. With space to play, City will be superior to the Spaniards and should win, booking their place in the semi-finals.”

The winner of this tie will face either Real Madrid or Chelsea in the semi-finals at the end of the month.