Guardiola makes nine changes for Red Star clash

Pep Guardiola started academy product Micah Hamilton in tonight’s Champions League match at Red Star Belgrade, one of nine substitutions in Guardiola’s lineup.

Pre-Match Analysis

Kickoff time, team news, and TV details for Red Star Belgrade vs. City

Tonight, in the last Group G match at the Rajko Mitic Stadium, Hamilton, a talented winger who has come a long way since joining City as an Under-9, makes his senior debut.

Two of his first team appearances so far have been off the bench, in September’s Carabao Cup match against Newcastle and October’s Champions League match away at Young Boys. He is twenty years old.

– Man city have won the last seven games in a row and are undefeated in our last eighteen matches in the UEFA Champions League (W13 D5). If they win this match without, they will tie Ajax and Bayern Munich for the second-longest streak of games without a loss in this competition (19 games between 1994 and 1996) and two 19-game runs (2001–2002 and 2019–2021, respectively). Manchester United, a local rival, set the record in 2007–2009 with 25 games.

Among the teams competing in the UEFA Champions League this season, City has the most number of times (73) that they have broken the defence line with a pass. We have scored more goals (14) thanks to line-breaking passes than any other club in the group stage this season.

– Rodri, a midfielder for City, has led all UEFA Champions League players in line-breaking passes with 100 and has made the most in the opposing half with 64.

Winning Ratios

-On Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League this season, Red Star Belgrade suffered their lone European defeat at the hands of Manchester City. In the campaign, they have dropped their past three matches against English teams.

Bolton (2007), Arsenal (2017), and Spurs (2019) are the three English teams to win on their most recent three European trips to Red Star. With one notable exception, that being Liverpool’s 2-0 Champions League group stage loss in November 2018.

Red Star were defeated by RB Leipzig in their most recent UEFA Champions League home encounter, 2-1. Since November 2019, when they lost 4-0 to Tottenham and 6-0 to Bayern Munich at home in two separate key European matches, the Serbian side has not lost back-to-back matches.

We have not lost a single UEFA Champions League match this season thanks to City. In 2021/22, Liverpool became the first English club to ever win all six of their group games. With two victories in 2022–23, City have won their previous seven league games. If City beat Red Star, they would become the first English team to win the Champions League or European Cup in successive years.

-In 17 UEFA Champions League matches, Red Star have let in 49 goals, or an average of 2.9 goals per game. The Swedish club Malmö FF set a new record for the quickest time a team has allowed 50 goals, which is 18 games. When compared, City’s past 49 goals allowed in the league came over 60 matches.

After winning all three of our away UEFA Champions League group stage games in 2013–14, City are aiming to repeat the feat. Chelsea (winners in 2020/21) and Liverpool (losers in 2021/22) were the last two English teams to accomplish this feat and advance to the final.TACTICS
During his pregame press conference, the manager expressed his enthusiasm for getting a chance to start several players who haven’t seen much action recently.

As we examine his starting eleven this evening, that is precisely what is happening.

The starting lineup for the defence will consist of four players: Sergio Gomez, Manuel Akanji, John Stones (captain), and Stefan Ortega Moreno.

Oscar Bobb, Jack Grealish, and Micah Hamilton start up front, while Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic, and Matheus Nunes line up in the middle.

Priming the Young Blues

It’s just breathtaking to witness the abundance of Young Blues on tonight’s Red Star roster.

Max Alleyne, Mahamadou Susoho, and True Grant, all of whom are 18 years old and ready to make their senior debuts, are on the bench with Micah Hamilton as the starting lineup.

After graduating from Southampton’s youth programme in October 2021, City signed the composed centre defender Alleyne. His self-assured style of play allows him to play off both feet, which opens up opportunities for him in defensive midfield.

Though he was born in Spain, Susoho is a gritty defensive midfielder with good passing skills who joined City from Espanyol in the summer of 2017.

With the ball in his hands, custodian Grant exudes confidence and calmness in the penalty area.

But this is Pep Guardiola’s first team and this will be his first game.

From the previous match against Luton Town, only Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish have returned to the starting lineup.

Today, Erling Haaland, Ederson, Jeremy Doku, and Kevin De Bruyne will not be present because they were unable to make the journey.

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