Pep Guardiola has decided to make six changes to his Man City side from the team that played against Leeds United, ahead of their Champions League semi-final first-leg clash against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The holders will surely fancy their chances of getting a result again in a tournament that is becoming one that they’re beginning to dominate.
Guardiola hasn’t won the biggest European prize since his Barcelona team absolutely dominated Man United at Wembley in 2011, and the Catalan will surely be hoping for a performance like that in order to put this tie to bed before they do battle again at the Etihad Stadium.
Tonight's line-up! ?
XI | Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis#ManCity pic.twitter.com/nIkzsU6Q5q
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 9, 2023
All of Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis, Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez, Aymeric Laporte and Phil Foden don’t make the starting line-up, but Guardiola has still managed to name an incredibly strong starting XI.
Ederson starts in goal and he will marshall a defence of Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.
John Stones is likely to push slightly forward into midfield to overwhelm Real’s three of Modric, Kroos and Valverde, and he will be joined by Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Jack Grealish.
Ahead of them are Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, whilst Erling Haaland will relish the lone striker’s role against a team that like to play a high line where possible.
It’s sure to be a mouth-watering clash with no quarter asked or given by either side, and with City in such good form at present, Guardiola and his troops should feel confident.