Manchester City confirm 22-man travelling squad to face Sporting CP in UEFA Champions League

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have confirmed a 22-man travelling squad to make the trip to Portugal this week on matchday four of the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester City will be hoping to further solidify their position in the automatic qualification places for the Champions League’s last-16 phase, whilst also returning to winning ways after a difficult two matches across competitions.

The meeting with Ruben Amorim’s Sporting CP side follows a demolition job on matchday three, as Manchester City put five goals past Sparta Prague at the Etihad Stadium thanks to Phil Foden, an Erling Haaland brace, John Stones, and a Matheus Nunes penalty.

But things did not go quite as smoothly in their most recent contest, with a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup fourth round followed by a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League, moving City into 2nd place in the top-flight table behind Liverpool.

Sporting is the third of four consecutive away trips for Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola’s side following their clash in Portugal with a visit back to the south coast of England to take on Brighton & Hove Albion at The Amex Stadium.

Before then, Manchester City have confirmed a 22-man travelling squad that left Manchester Airport on Monday afternoon for the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon!

22-man Manchester City travelling squad vs Sporting CP

Goalkeepers: Ederson, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Scott Carson

Defenders: Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol, Josh Wilson-Esbrand

Midfielders: Nico O’Reilly, Jacob Wright, Ilkay Gundogan, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, James McAtee, Phil Foden

Forwards: Savinho, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku

The 22-man travelling squad confirmed by Manchester City means that the injury and absentees picture from the weekend’s defeat to Bournemouth remains unchanged, with five players continuing to be ruled out of action.

Ruben Dias and John Stones both remain away from the matchday squad as they begin their respective recovery processes from a muscular and foot issue respectively, whilst Jack Grealish joins the pair in being sidelined.

Oscar Bobb and Rodri remain long-term absentees, with the Norway international expected to make a return to pitch action in early 2025, with Rodri not due to make any form of return until next summer or even until the start of the 2025/26 season.