Manchester City will need a near perfect game if they are going to turn around a 3-0 first leg deficit against Liverpool in their Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday, writes DEAN WORKMAN.

What a difference a week makes. Last week Manchester City were on top of the world and now they face the prospect of their perfect season falling apart. They will still win the Premier League at a canter, but Champions League success is what Pep Guardiola was brought in for and they stand on the brink of exiting the competition.

Last week Jurgen Klopp’s men shocked the footballing world as they hammered Manchester City 3-0 at Anfield in the first leg. The Reds were relentless for 90 minutes, harrying and hurrying City all over the pitch. Three quick first-half goals from Mohammed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane gave the Reds a massive lead while Guardiola’s men were unable to grab a vital away goal.

Both teams were then involved in big derbies at the weekend. Liverpool took on Everton, while City were up against United. Both City and Liverpool rested players with an eye on the Champions League encounter.

Liverpool got out of their match unscathed with a 0-0 draw. City were not so lucky, though, after being 2-0 up and cruising towards the title, Guardiola would have been a happy man at half-time of the Manchester derby. However, Jose Mourinho and his team had other ideas as they came out in the second half and performed a remarkable comeback to win 3-2. The result not only delayed City’s title celebrations but would have undoubtedly knocked their confidence heading into the Champions League second leg.

If Klopp’s men score first, the tie could very well be over as City would then need to score five goals to progress to the semi-finals. You would normally say that a 3-0 advantage is impossible to overturn but with this City side, you just never know. We have seen them turn on the style and score four goals in a matter of minutes on numerous occasions this season, who’s to say they can’t do it again.

Yes, Liverpool are favourites to go through and with a 3-0 advantage they should, but no one is writing City off just yet. One thing’s for sure, if City do manage to turn things around we could have one of the great Champions League games on our hands.

The match will kick off at 8:45pm.

Photo: Peter Powell/Backpagepix

Follow Dean Workman on Twitter: @DeanoWorks