Key events
7 mins: Porto’s front three are pressing high and causing City problems, with Gvardiol almost taken off the ball by William Gomes.
6 mins: A tentative Manchester City move forward ends when Haaland pushes his marker down.
4 mins: Porto are missing their key midfield man, Victor Froholdt, tonight. He was knocked unconscious in a grisly clash of heads during their game against Moreirense on Friday, and spent the night in hospital. He is recovering but understandably not available tonight.
2 minutes: Porto bring the ball forward but right-back Alberto Costa is penalised for hauling Gvardiol down. It’s raining hard, and the pitch looks slippery.
ShareKick-off
Here we go, then. Porto are in their usual blue and white stripes; City are wearing their black and gold, bee inspired away kit.
Before kick-off, a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the victims of the recent flash floods in Nepal, which is impeccably observed.
Five minutes until kick-off, and the Estádio do Dragão feels suitably cauldronesque. It feels like there could be goals in this one – you can quote me on that later.
Jamie Jackson has noticed something strange on Uefa’s official team sheet …
It’s also finished AEK Athens 1-0 LASK Linz in the battle of the acronyms* – you can follow all the other Champions League and Carabao Cup action with Daniel Harris.
*I know they may technically not be acronyms; please don’t write in
Updated at 14.41 EDT
FT: Club Brugge 2-3 Aston Villa They were pushed all the way, but Villa begin their campaign with a very useful three points. Rob Smyth has the latest …
Head to head: Porto have played Manchester City four times in Europe, and are yet to beat them. In the 2020-21 Champions League, City won 3-1 at home and drew 0-0 away in the group stage – before going on to lose the final to Chelsea in this very stadium.
The two sides also met in the 2011-12 Europa League knockouts, with City winning 6-1 on aggregate, before getting bundled out by Sporting in the next round.
Over in Bruges, Aston Villa are holding on to a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes to go. Follow that one with Rob Smyth …
Maresca has apparently introduced music to training sessions – Gabby Logan pushes him on the genre, and he says: “house music – I like house music, you know, boom-boom-boom.” Italo-house, perchance?
Enzo Maresca chats to Amazon Prime before the match: “It’s a hard place to come, but we’re going to try our best … it’s the first game, it’s going to be a long run. We’ll see where we are in December and January.”
He’s asked about the pressure of following Pep Guardiola, but brushes it off. “I’m trying to do what I did at Leicester, at Chelsea, it’s nothing different.” On summer signings, he adds: “We have quality players, that means service for Erling [Haaland], movement between the lines.”
ShareTeam news
Porto (4-3-3): Diogo Costa (c); Alberto Costa, Perez, Kiwior, Fernandes; Rosario, Varela, Veiga; William, Andre Silva, Pepe.
Subs: Claudio Ramos, Joao Costa, Hwang, Sainz, Gimenez, Souza, Fofana, Silva, Moura, Teixeira, Cunha, Luis Gomes.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias (c), Guehi, Gvardiol; Bouaddi, Fernandez; Semenyo, Cherki, Foden; Haaland.
Subs: Bettinelli, Rulli, Anderson, Kovacic, Ndiaye, Ait Nouri, Vitor Reis, Allan, Khusanov, McAidoo, Lewis.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Pre-match reading from our man in Porto, Jamie Jackson.
SharePreamble
Manchester City’s Enzo Maresca era has got off to a decent start, with three wins from three in the Premier League. The Champions League will offer a sterner test than their domestic opposition so far, with PSG, Barcelona, Napoli and plenty more top-tier teams dropping into their autumn fixture list.
First up, though, is a September trip to Porto – nice for the fans, not so much for the City players. Also managed by a tactically cautious Italian in Francesco Farioli, the Portuguese champions also boast a 100% league record this season. With the Manchester derby up next, the hard work starts here for Maresca and his new-look City side.
Kick-off is 8pm (BST).