Manchester City In The Champions League – Matchday 1 Head To Head

Manchester City once again face Shahktar Donetsk in the Champions League in what is starting to become a regular autumn fixture for the blues.

Tuesday’s match will be the third time the two teams have met in Ukraine in the Champions League, with both sides winning one game each. City have in the past been known for starting slowly, but do the stats agree?

Will The Ninth CL Season Bring An Opening Matchday Win?

The blues are seeking their fourth Matchday 1 win in the Champions League and will look to avoid a fifth defeat. It took City until their third season in the Champions League to record a Matchday 1 win – 3-0 at Viktoria Plzen in 2013.

The blues have lost more opening fixtures than they have won- 4 to 3 and have only drawn one opening match. That was their first ever fixture in the Champions League when the blues drew 1-1 with Napoli in 2011.

Will the blues level the losses with a win in Ukraine on Tuesday?

Mixed Fortunes Away On Matchday 1

City have been drawn away on Matchday 1 on four occasions, winning and losing two. The first time they were drawn away, the blues lost at Real Madrid after twice leading in Spain. At home it is a different story. From four home opening day matches, City have won just one, a 4-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016.

The blues have lost two (Juventus and Lyon) and drawn just one, so fans will be happy to be travelling on Matchday 1.

Goals Galore, But Not Always For The Blues

There have been plenty of goals scored on Matchday 1 involving the blues and City have kept three clean sheets on the opening day. The blues have only failed to score on the opening CL day once, a 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich in 2014.

There have been 25 goals scored in eight opening day matches, with City scoring 16 with 9 being scored by the opposition.

On This Day

City have played the opening CL fixture on the 17^th September on two occasions. The first resulted in a 3-0 win at Viktoria Plzen, while the following season, City went to Bayern and lost 1-0, so tonight’s game will be important from a statistical point of view. The closest City have played to the 17^th is 2012, when the blues lost 3-2 at Madrid.

So City have never drawn an away opening game in the Champions League, never drawn at Shahktar and never drawn a Champions League fixture on 17^th September. What are the odds of a draw tonight?

I’m not one for odds so I’m going for 3-1 City