After last weekend’s thrashing of Liverpool at the Etihad, Manchester City return to action with a trip to the Netherlands for a meeting with reigning Dutch champions Feyenoord in the opening match of this season’s Champions League.
The Blues are favourites to top their group despite having some good competition in Napoli and Feyenoord themselves, but Pep Guardiola has enough weapons at his disposal to field a strong team in every European match and get enough positive results to win Group F and reach the knockout rounds.
Guardiola will be boosted by the return of Raheem Sterling who was suspended against Liverpool but is available in the Champions League, but the coach will be without the injured Vincent Kompany and goalkeeper Ederson, who’s still not ready to come back after that crazy clash with Sadio Mane on Saturday.
Here is how the playing XI will look like
Goalkeeper:
Claudio Bravo – The Chilean who was signed last year from Barcelona had a dismal first season in English football which prompted the signing of Ederson this year. He will deputise for the Brazilian who is recovering from a nasty injury after Mane’s challenge.
Defence:
Kyle Walker – The Englishman is growing slowly and steadily as he gets ready for his first UCL match in a blue jersey.
Nicolas Otamendi – With Eliaquim Mangala waiting in the wings, the Argentinian has to up the ante. He was poor against Mo Salah but Mane’s red provided him with a lot of relief as he was not subject to much pressure after that. Good chance to prove why he should still be played.
John Stones – Time is running out for the Evertonian to prove his mettle at the highest level. He is an incredible footballer and there is no doubt about that but he has got to raise the levels of consistency.
Benjamin Mendy – Starting to show why City played the exorbitant fee to sign him. Extremely threatening on the attack with lots of crosses and chances created for his strikers to score. Will look to put Feyenoord on the back foot from the start.
Midfield:
Fernandinho – The midfielder has been ever-present so far this season and his versatility will be vital for the Blues as they begin their Champions League journey.
David Silva – Much was questioned about whether the silky Spaniard will still be as crucial to City’s plans and he has gone out and proved that he will. Excellent start to the season and will hope to reciprocate those performances in Europe.
Kevin De Bruyne – The undroppable Belgian was at his smashing best against Liverpool and will be hoping to continue where he left off on Saturday.
Attack:
Bernardo Silva – The winger took the Champions League by storm last season with AS Monaco and will hope to do the same with his new club.
Gabriel Jesus – The striker was taken off early against Liverpool in order to rest before this game but he had already done the damage by then, scoring twice.
Sergio Aguero – The Argentinian looks more and more like his old-self and Guardiola could not be more pleased with his dream pairing of Jesus and Aguero finally starting to click
City will line up in a 4-3-2-1 formation as they will look to put the Dutch Champions under pressure with the vast array of talented attacking players they possess.
