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Manchester City travel to Slovakia on Tuesday night to play Slovan Bratislava in the second match of their 2024/25 Champions League campaign.
Pep Guardiola’s side sit second in the Premier League after a somewhat disappointing draw against Newcastle last weekend, and they’re looking for their first three points of the new European campaign this week after drawing 0-0 at home to Inter Milan last time out.
The Cityzens have lost Rodri for the remainder of the season and will be without Kevin De Bruyne in the Slovak capital, though they come up against a Slovan Bratislava side that lost 5-1 to Celtic in their European opener on 18 September.
Follow all the latest Champions League updates with our live blog below:
What is the early team news?
Rodri is Man City’s main injury concern with the midfielder out for the long term. Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake are also sidelined, but City will hope Kevin de Bruyne is back to full fitness to play some part at least.
Lukas Pauschek is out for Slovan, while Kenan Bajric is a doubt. Their attacking line should include former Man City starlet Vladimir Weiss, now aged 34, and one of Slovakia’s starting forwards from their Euro 2024 last-16 clash with England, in David Strelec.
Chris Wilson1 October 2024 17:15
When is Slovan Bratislava vs Man City?
The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Tuesday 1 October.
Most Champions League games are shown on TNT Sports in the UK. This game is on TNT Sports 1 and can be streamed for subscribers on the discovery+ app.
Chris Wilson 1 October 2024 17:07
Slovan Bratislava vs Manchester City
Manchester City will be looking for their first win in the new Champions League format when they head to Slovakia on Tuesday, to take on Slovan Bratislava.
Pep Guardiola’s side are on an unusual run of just one win in four games across all competitions, though the others were all draws and they have faced Arsenal and Inter Milan in that run. Even so, failing to beat Newcastle last time out will have irked the reigning Premier League champions, as they lost top spot to Liverpool in the process and have now kept just one clean sheet in their last seven games.
Slovan Bratislava have won seven out of eight domestically and sit top of the Super Liga as a result, but were absolutely hammered by Celtic in their Champions League opener, losing 5-1 in Glasgow.
That result raised questions of competitiveness in this expanded league format, and even on home soil they must be fearing the type of scoreline an in-form Erling Haaland might be able to raise.
Chris Wilson1 October 2024 17:00
Good evening!
Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Champions League action as Manchester City travel to Slovakia to face Slovan Bratislava in their second league phase fixture.
City’s opening Champions League match ended in a 0-0 draw with Inter Milan and Pep Guardiola’s team head into this match in need of a win. They also drew 1-1 with Newcastle in their latest Premier League outing having also failed to beat a 10-man Arsenal team just before.
Slova Bratislava are perhaps the perfect team for City to face. They lost their first Champions League match 5-1 to Celtic and with City’s added firepower it could be another difficult night for the Slovakian side.
We’ll have all the team news, line-ups and updates throughout the evening so stick with us as we build up to kick off at 8pm.
Mike Jones1 October 2024 14:15