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Manchester City produced an inspiring second-half performance to register a 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes last week.
Paris Saint-Germain seemed to be in control of the game in the first half but were only able to showcase a tame version of themselves in the second half. Manchester City took full control of the game with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden producing commendable performances.
However, Despite putting up a great show in the first leg, Pep Guardiola knows that a 2-1 lead is slender, and the Parisians have enough firepower in their arsenal to overturn this deficit..
Both Pochettino and Guardiola have prior experience when it comes to fielding their teams in the UEFA Champions League semi-final and it'll be interesting to see how two of the world's best coaches match up against each other on the biggest stage.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five reasons why Paris Saint-Germain will make a comeback against Manchester City.
#5 Idrissa Gueye's absence could be a blessing in disguise for Paris Saint-Germain
Idrissa Gana Gueye's frustration boiled over in the final quarter of the first-leg against Manchester City and he was sent off for a poor studs-up challenge from behind on Ilkay Gundogan. But that might not necessarily disadvantage Paris Saint-Germain.
Idrissa Gueye does not offer a lot going forward and on Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain will need to be knocking relentlessly on Manchester City's doors to have a chance of making it to the final. In Gueye's absence, Marco Verratti could drop into a deeper role.
With Verratti deep in midfield, Pochettino will have the opportunity to place a more attacking option in Juilan Draxler in front of him. Draxler has performed well in the Champions League and shares good chemistry with the likes of Mbappe and Neymar.
An attack consisting of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe (given he's cleared to play), Mauro Icardi, Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler can spell danger for any defence in Europe.
#4 A rested Angel Di Maria and Marco Verratti will be a different proposition for Manchester City
When Paris Saint-Germain faced Manchester City in the first-leg, they did not have the luxury of resting some of their main men in the buildup to the game. Pochettino had to start the likes of Neymar, Mbappe and Verratti with the aim of getting all three points in the tightly contested Ligue 1 battle. Di Maria came off the bench in the 65th minute.
Paris Saint-Germain still dominated the proceedings in the first-half against Manchester City, with Angel Di Maria dropping deep to help out in defence. He looked burnt out in the second half and that led to Manchester City having a lot more space to work with.
This time around, Di Maria and Verratti are well-rested. While Di Maria was an unused substitute in the weekend's game against Lens, Verratti came off the bench for the last half an hour.
Di Maria and Marco Verratti will be looking to replicate their first-half performance from the first leg and this time, they will have the energy to sustain it for a longer period of time.
Kylian Mbappe has been struggling with a calf injury and is a doubt for the second-leg. He was rested against Lens as well. If he has fully recovered, then he'll be a handful to deal with for the Manchester City defenders.
#3 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has lost all of his last four UEFA Champions League semi-finals
Paris Saint-Germain will be hoping that Pep Guardiola would continue his recent dismal Champions League record when they meet City in the second leg. The last time a Pep Guardiola side made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League was with Bayern Munich in the 2015-16 season. They crashed out against Atletico Madrid.
In the two seasons prior to that, Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich bottled yet again at this stage, first against Real Madrid and then against Barcelona.
In his final season at Barcelona, his side were eliminated by Chelsea in the semi-finals and his Manchester City side are not alien to European heartbreak either. They have exited the Champions League in the quarter-finals for three consecutive seasons now.
Something or the other has always gone wrong for Pep Guardiola in Europe since his final Champions League triumph, which came way back in the 2010-11 season.
#2 Paris Saint-Germain's have performed at their best away from home this season
Paris Saint-Germain's best performances in the Champions League this season have come away from home. They were staring at an early exit from this year's Champions League, however a string of good away performances completely overturned their fortunes.
Paris Saint-Germain beat Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford. In the Round of 16, Paris Saint-Germain produced an absolute masterclass of a performance against Barcelona. Thanks to a brilliant hat-trick by Kylian Mbappe, they beat the Catalans 4-1 at the Camp Nou.
Drawn against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, Paris Saint-Germain went all-out in the first leg at the Allianz Arena and came away with a 3-2 win. As such, they have been able to produce some of their best performances against strong opposition away from home.
Pochettino's men would be hoping to replicate their excellent current away from in this crucial away tie against City.
#1 Manchester City's lack of clinical finishing
The Cityzens have had issues up front this season. Sergio Aguero has not been fully fit this season and after playing the full ninety minutes against Crystal Palace, he is unlikely to start against Paris Saint-Germain.
Gabriel Jesus has been poor for Manchester City in front of goal. In the first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, Guardiola went with the frontline of Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.
This means that their game is heavily dependent on interplay in the final third and if Paris Saint-Germain can stay compact, they can nullify City's threat to a great extent.
And despite all of Manchester City's dominance, both their goals had an element of good fortune about them. Kevin De Bruyne's opener was a cross that ended up in the back of the net.
Riyad Mahrez's free-kick goal that gave Manchester City the lead went through a gap in the wall, which was quite a letdown from Paris Saint-Germain's perspective.
As such, just where and how Manchester City come up with goals will be interesting to see.
