Savinho, Bernardo return as City make two changes

Pep Guardiola makes two changes to his starting XI for this evening's crucial Champions League clash with PSG.

Returning are Savinho and Bernardo Silva, while Ilkay Gundogan drops to the bench.

Jeremy Doku - who started against Ipswich - has picked up a knock and has not travelled.

John Stones makes a welcome return on the bench, too.

Line-ups

CITY:  Ederson, Nunes, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Stones, Grealish, Gundogan, Wright, Alleyne, O'Reilly, Lewis, McAtee

PSG:  To follow...

Formation/possible tactics

Though a draw would be a more than acceptable result, City don't do conservative.

Expect 4-3-3 this evening with - in front of Ederson - our full-backs Matheus Nunes and Josko Gvardiol and a central defensive pairing of Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.

Mateo Kovacic will anchor a midfield that includes Bernardo and skipper Kevin De Bruyne.

On the flanks are the in-form Phil Foden and Savinho, with Erling Haaland in his usual central striking role.

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Crucial night for Blues

City will aim to head home with at least a draw to avoid a nail-biting final league phase clash with Club Brugge.

The new Champions League format was meant to make the competition more exciting and add jeopardy to the final few matchdays - and it has certainly delivered.

The previous format often ended with 'dead rubber' final fixtures, with the bigger teams safely qualified for the next phase.

Few would have predicted so many of Europe's powerhouses would go into games seven and eight still needing points - City, PSG and Real Madrid to name but three.

The Blues are on eight points and PSG on seven going into this game - but it is complicated!

A win for City could book a play-off round place - while a draw and win over Brugge could also guarantee finishing between ninth and 24th - but it would still be dependent on other results.

A loss would not end our hopes of the play-offs, but would make our final league phase game against Brugge a must-win with no guarantees.

PSG could also still progress if they were to lose this evening, though may be reliant on other results even if they were to win away to Stuttgart in their last league phase game.

In short, there are many scenarios still possible, but the picture will be clearer after this evening's results.

Fascinating stuff!

Stats and facts

PSG have only won one of their seven matches against City in European competition (D2 L4). Among teams they’ve faced more than five times in Europe, this is their lowest win percentage against any opponent (14%).

PSG won their last home match against City in the UEFA Champions League, despite attempting just six shots (2-0 in September 2021). This remains the fewest shots they’ve had on record (since 2003-04) in a home match in the competition.

PSG won 3-0 against FC Salzburg on MD6, registering as many wins and goals as they had across their previous seven games in the UEFA Champions League (W1 D2 L4). They last won consecutive games in the competition last February when they beat Real Sociedad home and away in the last 16.

This will be the fifth meeting between PSG’s Luis Enrique and City’s Pep Guardiola, with both winning two games each in the UEFA Champions League. However, along with Jürgen Klopp (2), Luis Enrique is one of only two managers to have beaten Guardiola by 3+ goals on multiple occasions (3-0 in May 2015 and 4-0 in October 2016, both in charge of Barcelona).

City have lost their last two away UEFA Champions League matches, only one fewer than they’d lost in their previous 28 away games (W16 D9 L3). Only once have they lost more on the bounce, doing so between November 2011 and December 2012 under Roberto Mancini (four).

PSG have lost three of their last five UEFA Champions League home matches (W1 D1), as many as in their previous 17 games at the Parc des Princes (W11 D3), while Luis Enrique is the only PSG manager to lose as many as three home games in the competition.

Since the 2019-20 season, City have lost just three out of 49 UEFA Champions League matches with Rodri in the team (6%, W35 D11), compared to four defeats in 14 games without the Spaniard (29%, W7 D3).

In his first 11 away UEFA Champions League appearances, Erling Haaland scored 11 goals from 33 shots (33% conversion) but across his last 11 away games the City forward has scored just four times, with his conversion rate dipping to 10% (four goals from 41 shots).

Only three players have created more chances in this season’s UEFA Champions League than Paris SG’s Achraf Hakimi (16), with the Moroccan assisting two of their three goals against FC Salzburg on MD6 having only registered three assists in his first 32 games in the competition for the French side.

Two of the three players to complete the most passes in the UEFA Champions League this season are PSG central defenders Marquinhos (522, 1st) and Willian Pacho (507, 3rd) and they are the only duo to pass the ball 100+ times to one another this season (160 from Pacho to Marquinhos, 139 the other way).