Pep Guardiola has virtually a full-strength squad to pick from as Manchester City bid to reach the Champions League final for the first time in their history.
City took a big step towards the final in Istanbul by beating PSG 2-1 in the semi final first leg in Paris last week, with second half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez cancelling out Marquinhos’ opener.
Now that the Premier League title is all but wrapped up, Guardiola took the opportunity to rest his key players on Saturday, making eight changes for the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace with only Ederson, Joao Cancelo and Rodri keeping their places.
Sergio Aguero, who will leave the club after 10 years of service at the end of the season, offered a reminder of his qualities by scoring the opener at Selhurst Park and afterwards insisted that he is “ready” to face PSG if called upon.
The rest of City’s squad are also fit and raring to go against last season’s Champions League runners-up, with the exception of defender Eric Garcia, who is suffering from a fever.
Here’s how City could line up at the Etihad.
Zinchenko or Cancelo?
One of the bigger conundrums facing Guardiola is who to start at left back with Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko both in fine form. Cancelo started the first leg in Paris but was replaced by the Ukrainian just past the hour mark.
Interestingly, Zinchenko was named on the bench for Saturday’s game against Palace, entering the fray as a second half substitute, while Cancelo played the entire 90 minutes. Benjamin Mendy started and notched an assist but is renowned more for his offensive qualities than defensive ones.
Ruben Dias, John Stones and Kyle Walker were all afforded a rest at the weekend and will likely come straight back into the side. Stones accompanied Guardiola during Monday’s media duties and admitted that City’s players are “quietly confident” about their chances of progressing to the final.
Gundogan, Silva to return
Ilkay Gundogan was on the receiving end of a horror challenge from Idrissa Gueye in the first leg that resulted in the former Everton midfielder being sent off, but he was able to play the remainder of the game before sitting out Saturday’s win.
The 30-year-old will return to the City midfield, likely alongside Bernardo Silva, who was also an unused substitute over the weekend. Silva has been a regular fixture in City’s line-up in the Champions League, starting in nine of their 11 matches and being substituted on in the other two.
Although Rodri has played every minute of City’s previous two matches, he is expected to start ahead of Fernandinho ahead of the back four.
False 9 De Bruyne
Raheem Sterling has lost his starting place to the in-form duo Mahrez and Phil Foden in recent weeks and he missed the chance to apply pressure to his positional rivals by enduring a frustrating afternoon against Palace, failing to score from seven attempts on goal.
Both Mahrez and Foden have made key contributions to City’s Champions League run, the former scoring the opener against Dortmund and the winner last week and the latter netting home and away in the quarter-final win over the Bundesliga side.
“What a goal, what a player, what a man,” was Guardiola’s post-match assessment of Aguero’s performance on Saturday, but it would be a shock if the Argentine started. Instead, De Bruyne is likely to line up in a False 9 role and interchange with Foden, Mahrez and Silva during the game.
Manchester City’s predicted XI: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Rodri, Silva, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden.
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