Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fernandinho start for Manchester City against Paris Saint-Germain as Pep Guardiola makes two changes from last week’s first leg victory.

The Ukrainian replaces Joao Cancelo at left-back, whilst birthday boy Fernandinho comes in for Rodrigo at the base of midfield.

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The Club captain is one of only two players alongside Ederson retained from the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend. 

It means Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne all return to face Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

Cancelo and Rodrigo are part of a substitutes bench that includes Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.

TEAMS

CITY: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, De Bruyne.

SUBS: Steffen, Carson, Ake, Sterling, Jesus, Aguero, Laporte, Rodrigo, Torres, Mendy, Cancelo.

PSG: Navas, Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Diallo, Herrera, Paredes, Veratti, Di Maria, Neymar, Icardi.

SUBS: Rico, Randriamamy, Kehrer, Mbappe, Rafinha, Danilo, Kean, Sarabia, Kurzawa, Draxler, Bakker, Dagba.

Formation

In the absence of a recognised striker, it looks as if City will line-up as they did in Paris. 

The back four should be as expected, with Walker at right-back and Zinchenko on the opposite side, with Stones and Dias in the middle.

Gundogan and Bernardo will sit ahead of Fernandinho, which means De Bruyne will again lead the forward line, with Foden operating on the left-wing and Mahrez on the right. 

As always, we’ll have to wait until kick-off for the full picture as to how this fluid City side are shaping up.

History beckons

It is ten years ago this month since the most successful period in City history began with victory in the 2011 FA Cup final.

In the decade since, City have been the dominant team in English football, but success in Europe has proved elusive.

A coming-of-age performance in Paris last week has given Guardiola’s side the platform to take the Club into its first ever Champions League final.  Or, as Guardiola put it in his pre-match press conference: “to do something nice for our lives to be remembered forever.”

This team has already earnt its place in Manchester City folklore, but the significance of victory tonight cannot be underestimated.

Match stats and facts

  • City are unbeaten in all four previous European meetings with Paris Saint-Germain (W2 D2), and won our last home match against them in April 2016 in the second leg of that season’s Champions League quarter final.
  • We have won our last six Champions League matches and victory here would see us break the record for the longest ever winning run by an English team in European Cup/Champions League history. Three other sides have won six in a row: Manchester United (1965-66), Leeds United (1969-70) and Arsenal (2005).
  • Excluding this tie, in the history of the European Cup/Champions League, there have been 47 instances of an English side winning the first leg of a two-legged knockout tie away from home, and on all 47 occasions the English side has progressed.
  • Should City progress, we would reach our first European final for 51 years, since winning the 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup final against Górnik Zabrze. This would break the record for the longest gap between appearances in European finals, held by Sporting CP (41 years between 1964 Cup Winners’ Cup final and 2005 UEFA Cup final).
  • We will become the first English side to win 11 games in a single European Cup/Champions League season if we beat PSG, breaking Manchester United’s record of 10 wins in 2002-03.
  • This will be Pep Guardiola’s 63rd game in the Champions League knockout stages, the outright most of any manager, breaking Carlo Ancelotti’s record of 62.