Porto vs Manchester City - Champions League LIVE: Citizens seek to banish ghosts of the past at the Dragao as Enzo Maresca's men start European campaign

Porto vs Manchester City - Champions League LIVE: Citizens seek to banish ghosts of the past at the Dragao as Enzo Maresca's men start European campaign

Bouaddi's big opportunityI can't tell you how excited I am to see Ayyoub Bouaddi in action.I was skeptical about Manchester City lobbing the insane amount of money on the 18-year-old that they did, you know, given that he is basically still a kid.However, I covered his debut against Crystal Palace a couple of weeks back, and boy, he looked the real deal.Now we get to see Bouaddi for more than just a short stint and I simply can't wait to see how he fares.The boy is a special talent, and he has his big break.Haaland chasing City recordI mean, when isn't Erling Haaland looking to break a goalscoring record of some sort, let's be real.The bloke has been doing it for years, ever since he joined Man City.And now the Norwegian striker, who has begun the season on absolute smoke, is seeking Sergio Aguero's club record tally of 36 goals in the Champions League for City.Haaland has 34 strikes in just 39 games for City, which is simply an outrageous record, and I wouldn't bet him adding two, or maybe even three more tonight.Can he at least match the record? Let's see.The Dragons DenWow.Just look at where we are watching the beautiful game tonight; isn't the Estádio do Dragão just stunning?I've covered a few games at this ground now, and I have to say, it's one of my absolute favourite stadiums. A real beauty.And the atmosphere, well, it's just going to be incredible. This place will be popping off in just over an hour.I can't wait to see this place at its rocking best.Porto Team News Man City Team News - Bouaddi STARTSOooh, interesting!Enzo Maresca may not have made many changes, but one of them is a biggie.He has given a first Manchester City start to 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, with Elliot Anderson coming in.Matheus Nunes and Phil Foden also start for City with Abdukodir Khusanov and Iliman Ndiaye dropping out.It just shows how stacked their squad is.Villa flying in BruggeTom Collomosse at Jan Breydel Stadium:No goals in three games in the Premier League, three in one half in the Champions League. Villa have been very clinical here but they’ll rarely meet teams as disorganised as Club Brugge. The home side have looked dangerous in attack but whenever they lose the ball, there is so much space for Villa to exploit.Will Maresca rotate?I'm interested to see how Manchester City line-up tonight.Enzo Maresca almost hinted at giving Erling Haaland a little rest due to his fatherhood, but after just three games in the season, you feel as though Haaland should be OK to start.When it comes to the midfield, though... jeez, it's anybody's guess.City have just thrown a serious amount of money at that section of the pitch, and it's pot luck when guessing which of the new faces will get a start.But anyway, it feels as though Maresca will at least make some changes to the side that beat Coventry.We will find out who in just a moment.Maresca: 'This is a hard place to come'Enzo Maresca, Manchester City boss, speaking ahead of the game:We are here to do our best. The game will dictate the favourite. This is a hard place to come. This season they started very good. In the last 14, 15 games in Europe they just lost one so we are going to try our best and try to win the game.I know that Porto is very good in set pieces. I think it has become part of the game now so we need to do our best, defend in the right way, score goals as much as we can from set pieces because it’s part of the game and you need to be perfect because all teams are prepared for that.Can City continue strong start to season?This could be a very fun season for Manchester City.There has been so much change at the club that absolutely nobody knows how their campaign is going to go. I mean, they have won three out of three in the Premier League, which is a pretty damn good start.They have also shown various styles and styles since the start of this term, and boy, it's been fun to watch. Goals, excitement, drama... well, until that third game against Coventry.With how unpredictable the Champions League can be, it feels like a competition that fits them perfectly. It can either go brilliantly for them and they go far, or they could have a disastrous early crash-out.Either way, it could be interesting to watch.What we do know is that they have a ridiculously hard league phase, with some cracking but difficult fixtures.You feel they NEED to get off to a good start.What's in store?It's the Champions League group phase in the new era, so you know what that means.Yep, an absolutely silly but glorious amount of football.We have three days straight of Champions League footie coming tonight, and boy, are there some tasty clashes.Here are the fixtures in line for tonight:AEK Athens 1-0 LASK (latest)Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa (latest)Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal, 20:00 GMTPorto vs Manchester City, 20:00 GMTLille vs Real Betis, 20:00 GMTReal Madrid vs Inter Milan, 20:00 GMT'Du du du du du du du du...'Can you hear that? Just listen... if you concentrate hard enough, you may well be able to hear the faint sound of an operatic orchestra producing one of the most iconic anthems in our sport.Yep, that's right: football's greatest club competition has returned, and I genuinely couldn't be more excited about it.The Champions League really is the best. There are almost always heaps of goals, entertainment and drama that no other tournament can provide.Now, I know what you are going to say, it has technically already started with Aston Villa's clash away at Club Brugge, and you'd be right. However, our full coverage begins NOW.We start in Portugal as Manchester City go back to a venue that has very much haunted them in the past.Enzo Maresca's men take on Porto at Estadio do Dragao, the stadium where they suffered Champions League final heartbreak against Chelsea in 2021. They will be desperate to banish the ghosts of that final against Porto, in what is sure to be a tasty affair.So, without further ado, let's get crackalacking.

Original Source

Read the full article at Dailymail →

KhanList aggregates and links to publicly available news content. We do not host full articles from third-party sources. Always verify important information with original sources.