Early team news: Christopher Nkunku status confirmed for RB Leipzig vs Manchester City (Champions League Last-16 First-Leg)

RB Leipzig’s star frontman Christopher Nkunku will be among the substitutes for Marco Rose’s side on Wednesday night against Manchester City, as per early reports.

City are once again embarking on another Champions League knock-out stage in search of their first ever European crown, and the first of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career since his spell with FC Barcelona.

Wednesday night’s clash in Saxony has more at stake than usual, with Manchester City also looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon with a victory in Europe’s premier competition.

Manchester City’s last visit to the Red Bull Arena came on matchday six of last season’s UEFA Champions League group stage campaign, with a Kyle Walker red card topping off a hugely disappointing performance as the Blues fell to a 2-1 defeat.

Thankfully that night, City had already booked their place in the knock-out stages of the competition, but tonight certainly has a competitive edge to the fixture, and the 90 minutes will not be overlooked by either camp as they look to take positive scorelines through to the second-leg at the Etihad Stadium.

In the run-up to Marco Rose and Pep Guardiola’s official release of their starting line-ups, various sources have began to reveal elements of the RB Leipzig and Manchester City XI’s as the latter continue their hunt for a first European crown under the esteemed Catalan coach.

As per the information of Sky Germany’s Philipp Hinze, the doubtful RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku will only make the substitutes bench against Manchester City following an aggravated muscle problem sustained at the weekend.

Prior to the contest tonight, the Red Bull coach admitted on the French international, “Christo (Nkunku) was only able to complete a part of training today because his muscle reacted badly after the Wolfsburg game.

“We knew anyway that he wouldn’t be able to start against Manchester City. We will have to see how he is tomorrow. We don’t want to take any risks and we’ve got a number of other players we can use instead.”

Marco Rose and Pep Guardiola are expected to name their official RB Leipzig and Manchester City starting line-ups at 18:45 BST.

Now confirmed: