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| NUNES started in the Man City vs Red Star Belgrade match |
Matheus Nunes will make his debut for Manchester City in the Champions League Group G opening match against Red Star Belgrade.
MEN'S TEAM Walker 'honoured and privileged' to wear the Man City captaincy The Portuguese midfielder made his Man City debut from the bench in Saturday's Premier League win over West Ham, but Pep Guardiola has named him in their starting line-up tonight.
Man City vs Red Star Belgrade match
Nunes's debut is one of three changes for Saturday's visit to the London Stadium, with Nathan Ake and Sergio Gomez also called up.
Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol and Jeremy Doku make way for these three in tonight's clash with the Serbian champions.
This was City's first Champions League appearance since winning the iconic trophy in June and the UEFA Super Cup last month.
This was also the first time we met a Serbian team.
The formation of the two teams in the Man City vs Red Star Belgrade match
CITY XI: Ederson, Walker (C), Dias, Ake, Gomez, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Nunes, Foden, Alvarez, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Phillips, Doku, Gvardiol, Akanji, Bobb, Lewis
RED STAR XI: Glazer, Mijailovic, Djiga, Dragovic, Rodic, Hwang, Stamenic, Ivanic, Bukari, Mitrovic, Ndiaye
Subs: Popovic, Vasiljevic, Degenek, Spajic, Kanga, Katai, Olayinka, Krasso, Milunovic, Kangwa, Lucic, Kabic
Nunes' role in the Man City vs Red Star Belgrade match
Nunes has built a reputation at Wolves as a player who can carry the ball in crowded spaces and move his teammates forward up the field.
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| Man City vs Red Star Belgrade match |
This seems similar to what Mateo Kovacs did successfully in his first appearance for Man City before the recent international break.
With the Croatian player absent tonight due to injury, it is likely that Nunes will work alongside Rodrigo and have the same task in this match.
Statistics of the two teams before the Man City vs Red Star Belgrade match
● Manchester City has never faced Red Star in European competition. Indeed, this is the first time we have faced a Serbian team.
● Red Star only won one of 11 away matches against English teams in all competitions (Drawed 4, lost 6), defeating Liverpool 2-1 in the 1973-74 European Cup.
● This is the first time Red Star faces the reigning European champions in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League. However, they have faced the eventual winners of the previous two Champions League campaigns (Liverpool in 2018-19, Bayern Munich in 2019-20). ,
● Defending champions Manchester City remain undefeated in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League campaign (8 wins, 5 draws).Only once in the past 28 seasons has the defending champion of this tournament lost the opening match of the group stage, which was Liverpool losing 0-2 to Napoli in the 2019-20 season.
● This is the 13th consecutive season Manchester City has participated in the UEFA Champions League. After being eliminated in the group stage in our first two appearances, we have reached the last 16 in our last 10 campaigns.
Team statistics: Man City vs Red Star Belgrade
● Red Star has lost all 6 away matches in the UEFA Champions League to date, conceding 22 goals and scoring only 2 goals. Two of those losses took place in England, 0-4 against Liverpool in the 2018-19 season and 5-0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2019-20 season.
● Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 13 UEFA Champions League matches (W8, D5), all of which came last season on their way to winning the trophy. Only once in his coaching career has Pep Guardiola had a longer unbeaten streak in this competition, 16 unbeaten matches when leading Barcelona from March 2011 to April 2012.
● Red Star no scored in their last 4 matches in this competition (2019-20 season) – their longest streak without scoring a goal in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
● Erling Haaland scored 12 goals in the UEFA Champions League last season, more than any other player. However, the Man City striker has not scored in his last three appearances, his longest streak without scoring in the tournament.,
● City's Jack Grealish created the most chances under pressure of any player in the UEFA Champions League last season (28), while his total of 35 chances created was the most on record by any English player in a single season of the competition. (from 2003-04).
