Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno makes his competitive debut for the Club, coming in for Ederson. Ortega Moreno had previously spent his entire career in Germany before moving to England in the summer.
Matchday Centre | Borussia Dortmund v City
John Stones and Nathan Ake replace Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte at the back, with Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden coming in for Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva in midfield.
Julian Alvarez takes the spot of Jack Grealish in the forward line.
Sergio Gomez is suspended after his red card in Copenhagen on Matchday 4, and Kalvin Phillips isn’t yet fit enough for a place on the bench.
Team news
CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Stones, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), Foden, Mahrez, Alvarez, Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Carson, Grealish, Laporte, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Akanji, Palmer, Lewis, Wilson-Esbrand
DORTMUND XI: Kobel, Schlotterbeck, Hummels (c), Sule, Reyna, Can, Bellingham, Hazard, Brandt, Moukoko, Adeyemi
Subs: Meyer, Unbehaun, Wolf, Modeste, Malen, Passlack, Rothe, Coulibaly, Papadopoulos
Tactics
Ortega Moreno will be protected by a defensive line of John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Joao Cancelo with Stones expected to be on the right and Cancelo on the left.
Rodrigo sits at the base of the midfield with Ilkay Gundogan to his right and Phil Foden likely to be flanking him to the left.
On the wings, Riyad Mahrez will play down the right and Julian Alvarez will play on the left. Erling Haaland remains the focal point through the middle.
Ortega Moreno’s debut
Stefan Ortega Moreno has had to be patient for his competitive City debut. The German has watched Ederson have an exceptional start to the season from the bench, and pushed his colleague every day in training.
He did prove his abilities to a huge crowd at the Camp Nou in the charity match against FC Barcelona in August, looking exceptionally adept with the ball at his feet in particular.
Ruben Dias | City want to put on a show on big stage
Having played Borussia Dortmund on several occasions through his time as a professional in his homeland, he is unlikely to be fazed by the intimidating atmosphere inside the Westfalenstadion.
FODEN’S CHANGING ROLE
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of tonight’s setup will be the areas taken up by Phil Foden. The England international has played exclusively on the wing so far in this campaign and to devastating effect.
With Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland all playing high up the pitch, could he be in the midfield three tonight? If that is the case, Alvarez will be on the left wing and will need the support of a natural left footer - so Foden could well spend a lot of time high and wide.
Otherwise, Foden may be on the left of a midfield four with Alvarez and Haaland up top together. The beauty of Pep Guardiola’s tactics mean it will be a fluid system in and out of possession either way.
Match stats
- Borussia Dortmund have won just one of their five UEFA Champions League matches against Manchester City (D1 L3), a 1-0 home win in the 2012-13 group stage.
- City have won our last three UEFA Champions League games against Borussia Dortmund, winning every game 2-1. No side has ever beaten another by the same score in four consecutive games in the Champions League (Bayern Munich beat Arsenal 5-1 three in a row between 2015 and 2017).
- City have won 14 of our last 16 UEFA Champions League matches against German teams (D1 L1) but did lose their last away game there 2-1 against RB Leipzig. City have won 16 games against German opponents in the competition, six more than against any other nation.
- Borussia Dortmund have only lost two of their last 14 home games in the UEFA Champions League (W8 D4), although one of those defeats came against Manchester City in April 2021 (1-2 in the quarter-final second leg).
- Across the first four matchdays in the UEFA Champions League this season, no player has been directly involved in more goals than Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (five goals) or Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham (four goals, one assist).
