Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez come into the starting eleven from the side that drew 2-2 with Liverpool on Sunday.
Raheem Sterling, who reverts to the bench, and the suspended Gabriel Jesus are the players to make way.
Ruben Dias, who has been side-lined since the start of March with a hamstring problem, makes a return to the matchday squad and is named amongst the substitutes.
TEAMS
Atletico: Oblak, Lorente, Savic, Felipe, Mandava, Lodi dos Santos, Koke, Kondogbia, Lemar, Sequeira, Griezmann
Subs: Lecomte, de Paul, Suárez, Correa, Wass, Santos Carneiro Da Cunha, Carrasco, Hermoso, Vrsaljko, Serrano Martínez
City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Gundogan ©, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden
Subs: Steffen, Carson, Dias, Ake, Zinchenko, Sterling, Grealish, Fernandinho, Delap, Edozie, McAtee, Lavia
Formation
The team selection for the trip to the Spanish capital once again would appear to indicate that Guardiola has opted for his preferred 4-3-3 formation against the La Liga champions.
As always of course, we’ll need to wait until kick-off to discover exactly City will shape up.
But at first glance it appears that goalkeeper Ederson will be shielded by a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo.
Rodrigo is set to be deployed as the holding midfielder with skipper Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva also likely to be in the engine room.
Meanwhile, our attacking trio is expected to be comprised of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez though such is City’s tactical fluidity, that could change!
100 up
Tonight’s first-ever competitive European away clash with Atletico Madrid is a landmark occasion in more ways than one.
While the prize of a Champions League semi-final encounter against Real Madrid is up for grabs with City holding a 1-0 advantage from last week’s first leg, the trip to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium also marks our 100th game in the Champions League.
Finalists in last season’s competition, City have established a fine European record over the course of the past few years.
We have won 55 of our first 99 games in Europe’s elite club competition – the highest number of victories by an English side in the course of a century of matches.
Indeed, it’s a measure of City’s consistency that only Real Madrid have won more games (57) in the course of their first 100 Champions League fixtures.
Stats and facts
Head-to-head
• This will be City’s first every away game against Atlético Madrid in European competition – we have won three of our previous 11 away games against Spanish opponents (D1 L7), including our most recent such trip under Pep Guardiola (2-1 v Real Madrid in February 2020).
• City’s victory at home to Atlético Madrid in the first leg was the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides.
Manchester City
• This will be City’s 100th game in the UEFA Champions League – we have won 55 of our first 99, which is already the most by an English side through a century of games in the competition. Overall, only Real Madrid have won more of their first 100 games in the Champions League (57).
• Pep Guardiola has faced Atletico Madrid away from home on six previous occasions as a manager (W3 D3), with the most recent of those being a 0-1 defeat in the Champions League while in charge of Bayern Munich in 2015-16. This will be Guardiola’s first away game at the Wanda Metropolitano.
• We have won each of our last five matches in the knockout stages of the Champions League as the designated away side, the longest such run by any side in the competition’s history.
• City have only been defeated twice across our last 14 matches in the knockout stages of the Champions League (W11 D1), with both defeats coming on neutral territory (QF vs Lyon in 2019-20, final vs Chelsea in 2020-21).
• Riyad Mahrez has scored six goals across his last six away games in the Champions League. The Algerian has scored in three consecutive away games in the knockout stages of the competition; should he score in this match, only Cristiano Ronaldo will have scored in more such games consecutively (6 - 2013-2015).
• João Cancelo has been directly involved in five goals in the Champions League this season (two goals, three assists); the joint-most by a full back in one of Pep Guardiola’s teams in a single campaign in the competition, along with Dani Alves in 2010-11 (also two goals, three assists).
Atletico Madrid
• This season is the fourth time Atlético Madrid have lost the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie away from home – Diego Simeone’s side have progressed on two of the three previous occasions, however, eliminating Barcelona in 2015-16 (3-2 on aggregate) and Bayer Leverkusen in 2014-15 (1-1 on aggregate, progressing in a penalty shootout).
• After a run of nine victories in 10 home games between November 2017 and October 2020, Atlético Madrid are winless in their last seven home games in the Champions League (D4 L3) - their last win in the competition on home soil came in October 2020 (3-2 v RB Salzburg).
• Atlético de Madrid have lost five of their last seven matches against English sides in the Champions League (W1 D1), with their only win in this run coming away to Manchester United in the previous round.
