Bernardo Silva comes in and replaces Riyad Mahrez, who drops to the bench.
Bernardo‘s last start came in our last Champions League tie, the 7-0 Round of 16 home victory over RB Leipzig.
In fact, tonight’s XI is the same as that second leg win.
We face Bayern tonight in the opening last eight clash, with a 20:00 (UK) kick-off at the Etihad Stadium.
Following this evening’s encounter, we head to the Allianz Arena next Wednesday for the deciding match.
This is our sixth successive quarter-final in the elite European competition and if we can make it past the German champions over two legs, we’ll make it through to our third semi-final in a row.
TEAMS
CITY XI: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (c), Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Perrone, Palmer, Lewis
Bayern XI: Sommer, Pavard, Upamecano, De Light, Davies, Goretzka, Kimmich (c), Coman, Musiala, Sane, Gnabry
Subs: Ulreich, Schenk, Mane, Sarr, Cancelo, Blind, Muler, Gravenberch, Tel, Mazraoui, Stanisic
TACTICS
It looks like it’s the same again for Pep Guardiola as he sticks to the formation that has proven so successful over the past few weeks.
It features John Stones in the inverted, hybrid right-back role which also sees him push up into central midfield alongside Rodrigo.
Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake make up the rest of the backline.
The presence of Stones alongside Rodrigo gives Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne the necessary freedom to push forward to support an impressive front three.
Jack Grealish, who has been arguably our best performer of late, takes his place on the left with Bernardo Silva on the right with Erling Haaland as the central striker.
HAALAND FOCUSED
Erling Haaland has broken a succession of records this season – and he’s got more in his sights.
Haaland is this season’s Champions League top scorer with 10 goals, that tally also being the most by a City player in a single season in the competition.
Currently, only Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy has more goals for an English club in a single edition of the competition when he bagged 12 across 2002/03.
As well as that, if Haaland finds the net tonight, he’ll have scored the most goals in all competitions by a player for a Premier League club.
He’s currently level with Mohamed Salah and Ruud van Nistelrooy on 44 but would hit the 45-goal mark with just one more.
Salah achieved his milestone in 2017/18 while van Nistelrooy hit the same mark in 2002/03.
Breaking records on Champions League nights is not new for Haaland.
In the 7-0 win over Leipzig in the Round of 16, Haaland became the third player to score five goals in a single Champions League game after Luiz Adriano in October 2014 and Lionel Messi in March 2012.
It also put him on 33 goals in 25 games in the Champions League, ensuring he reached the 30-goal landmark in fewer matches than any other player in the competition’s history.
He also became the youngest player to reach 30 goals in Champions League history at 22 years and 236 days.
As if that wasn’t enough, the quintet also put him on 39 goals from 36 games - breaking Tommy Johnson’s club record of 38 goals in a single season set in 1928/29.
DIAS DETERMINED
“You got one step closer”
That was the positive affirmation given to Ruben Dias in the aftermath of City’s frustrating Champions League final defeat to Chelsea in 2021.
And he admitted this week that those words continue to ‘echo in my mind’ to this day.
Many would view that 1-0 defeat in Porto as a devastating career moment but the fact Dias uses it as motivation for future success showcases the maturity and focus of the in-form defender.
He’s keen to keep striding forward in the 2022/23 edition of the competition as he gets set to face Bayern Munich tonight in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Talking to the media pre-match, he said: “Like a very wise man once said to me: ‘We didn’t lose the final, we just got one step closer.’
“I keep these words to myself very close because in the end it’s the only way to see it if you really want to keep pursuing it.
“Every year it’s about us getting closer and making steps closer and making your name more and more loud. We are still in the pursuit and we will keep fighting.
“Those words made a lot of echo in my mind.”
LAST TIME OUT
MATCH STATS
This will be the seventh meeting between Manchester City and Bayern Munich in European competition, with each both sides alternating victories across the previous six (three each) – all in the UEFA Champions League.
City have won two of the previous occasions when hosting Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League (L1), with our one defeat coming against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern in October 2013 (1-3).
Since losing four consecutive away games against English sides in the UEFA Champions League between 2005 and 2011, Bayern Munich have only lost on two of their 10 such trips since (W6 D2), and won three of the last four (D1).
City have won our last 10 home games against German sides in the UEFA Champions League by an aggregate score of 39-10, including all four games in this run during the knockout stages.
City manager Pep Guardiola has won 54% of his games in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League (39/72). Among those with 30+ games in the knockout stages (including finals), he has the best win percentage of any manager and is the only one to have won more than half of his games.
Erling Haaland has scored 10 goals in six appearances for City in the UEFA Champions League - the joint-fewest games needed for a player to reach double figures in the competition for a specific club, along with Sébastien Haller for Ajax (6). Indeed, these are the only two instances quicker than Haaland reaching 10 goals in seven UEFA Champions League games for previous club Borussia Dortmund.
Leon Goretzka has been directly involved in more goals than any other Bayern Munich player in the UEFA Champions League this season (6 – two goals and four assists). Indeed, 50% of Goretzka’s combined goals and assists in the competition in his career have been registered this season (6/12), in what is his seventh UEFA Champions League campaign.
