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Manchester City have made five changes for the first leg of our Champions League last 16 tie against Sporting.

John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Rodrigo and Kevin De Bruyne come into the side in place of Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan.

Walker is not involved as he serves the first of a three-game suspension following his sending off in the final group stage game against RB Leipzig.

CITY: Ederson, Stones, Dias (C), Laporte, Cancelo, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.

SUBS: Carson, Slicker, Ake, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Kayky, Delap, Mbete, McAtee, Lavia.

SPORTING: Adan, Esgalo, Coates (C), Inacio, Porro, Palhinha, Nunes, Rets, Sarabla, Paulinho, Goncalves.

SUBS: Paulo, Virginia, Feddal, Tabata, Slimani, Santos, Neto, Ugarte, Vinagre, Edwards, Braganca, Esteves.

WHEN AND WHERE?

City travel to Portugal to take on Sporting at the José Alvalade Stadium on Tuesday 15 February, with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 (UK). The game is being broadcast live on BT Sport 2 in the UK.

Follow on the man city app

The official Man City app offers comprehensive coverage of every City game.

Alistair Mann will provide commentary throughout the 90 minutes, while minute-by-minute text updates are available in our Matchday Centre, starting at 18:00 (UK).

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For those with push notifications turned on, you’ll also get alerted as soon as the teams are announced when any goals go in.

Our Matchday Live show can be found on all digital platforms including the app, beginning at 18:45 (UK).

Our guests will offer their expert insight prior to kick-off before a half-time debrief and detailed post-match recap.

The guests will also answer viewer questions throughout the broadcast. To have your say, send a WhatsApp to: +447537186538.

Highlights from the match can be found later in the evening, while a full-match replay will also be available from midnight following the game with a CITY+ subscription.

PEP GUARDIOLA PREVIEW

“What I have seen from Sporting is togetherness. The relationship between the manager and the team is there. The manager is being fought for by his players. This is the most important thing.

“They have incredible runners and attack in behind. They were Champions last year for the first time in many years because they are a really good team.

“They came through the group stage against Ajax and Dortmund, who are a club who have got to quarter and semi-finals and once in the final. They beat them because they are good.

“Watching them recently, I was really impressed with how good they are.”

LAST TIME OUT

City cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Norwich City - with Raheem Sterling grabbing a hat-trick and Phil Foden also getting his name on the scoresheet.

With the clock ticking just past the half-hour mark, City took the lead, with Sterling curling into the top corner from the edge of the box.

City emerged from the interval hungry for a second goal and just minutes after the restart, it came from the right boot of Foden, who capitalised on a loose ball inside the box to fire in.

With 20 minutes remaining, Sterling added his second of the evening, heading into an empty net after Ruben Dias nodded across the six-yard box.

The Englishman completed his treble in stoppage time, following up his saved penalty with an easy tap in.

Sporting’s last match ended in a 2-2 draw against arch-rivals FC Porto in the Portuguese top-flight.

PREVIOUS MEETING

The two clubs have only faced off twice competitively, back in March 2012 in the last-16 of the UEFA Europa League. 

City won the second-leg 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium, but exited the competition on the away goals rule.

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Ricky van Wolfswinkel made it 3-0 on aggregate before Sergio Aguero reduced the deficit, and Mario Balotelli’s penalty made it 2-2 on the night.

Aguero scored again and goalkeeper Joe Hart was denied a spectacular winner when his header was saved at the death.

FORM GUIDE

City are in sizzling form across all competitions. In the Premier League, City have 14 wins and one draw in their last 15 matches to sit at the top of the table.

As for Sporting, they have 17 wins, three draws and two losses in the Portuguese top-flight, taking them to second place in the table.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Srdjan Jovanović (SRB)

Assistant referees: Uroš Stojković (SRB), Milan Mihajlović (SRB)

VAR: Marco Fritz (GER)

Assistant VAR: Harm Osmers (GER)

Fourth official: Novak Simović (SRB)

TV LISTINGS