Kevin De Bruyne will make a swift return to the Etihad Stadium when his new Napoli side travel to Manchester City for their opening League Phase fixture in the 2025-26 Champions League on Thursday night.
The two teams butt heads in Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since the 2017-18 group stage when the Citizens won both matches by an aggregate score of 6-3, including a 2-1 success at the Etihad.
Match preview
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates on September 14, 2025
After suffering back-to-back defeats to Tottenham and Brighton before the international break, Man City returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion as they secured a morale-boosting 3-0 derby victory at home to floundering rivals Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.
On an emotional afternoon following the tragic passing of Manchester-born Boxing icon and Man City favourite Ricky Hatton, local lad Phil Foden marked his much-anticipated return with a first-half opener, before two strikes from goal machine Erling Haaland after the interval sealed the bragging rights and all three points for the Citizens.
Pep Guardiola is hoping that his team’s derby triumph will spark an upturn in form after a below-par start to the new campaign, and while one eye is sure to be on this weekend’s trip to fellow title hopefuls Arsenal, Man City must first turn their attention to their 15th successive season in the Champions League.
The 2023 winners will be keen to make a strong start and avoid a repeat of their disappointing League Phase outing from last season when they surprisingly finished down in 22nd place in the 36-team standings (W3 D2 L3) before losing to former UCL holders Real Madrid in the knockout playoff round.
Man City have in fact lost four of their last five matches in the Champions League (W1), but they are unbeaten in 21 group-stage/League Phase games at the Etihad (W18 D3), while they have also won five and drawn one of their last six matchday one fixtures in the competition, which bodes well ahead of Thursday’s tricky test with Napoli.
Napoli's Kevin De Bruyne on August 30, 2025
After winning their second Serie A title in three seasons and first under head coach Antonio Conte in 2024-25, Napoli have made a perfect start to the defence of their top-flight crown this term, winning each of their opening three league matches against Cagliari, Sassuolo and Fiorentina.
Fresh from securing a transfer away from Man United, Rasmus Hojlund marked his debut for I Partenopei with a 14th-minute goal in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Fiorentina, which followed a sixth-minute penalty from fellow new signing De Bruyne - his second strike of the season since leaving Man City.
While Conte was pleased with his team’s dominant victory, the Italian has urged his players to not rest on their laurels, even when boasting a commanding lead, and suffer a lapse in concentration towards the end of matches, which was evident against Fiorentina who pulled one back in the final 10 minutes.
Napoli will be the fifth different team Conte has managed in the Champions League (along with Juventus, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Tottenham) and the Italian club are preparing for their ninth campaign in the competition after failing to qualify for the 2024-25 edition - the first time they had missed out since 2009-10.
I Partenopei head into Thursday’s contest having lost only three of their last 18 Champions League group stage/League Phase games (W11 D4), but they have never beaten an English team away from home in any European competition (D3 L9), losing at least once against six of the seven different sides they have faced (Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool and Man City), with Leicester City being the only exception in 2021-22.
Manchester City form (all competitions):
W L L W
Napoli form (all competitions):
W W W
Team News
Manchester City's Phil Foden celebrates with Jeremy Doku and teammates on September 14, 2025
Manchester City will be without injured quartet Omar Marmoush (knee), Rayan Cherki (unspecified), Rayan Ait-Nouri (ankle) and Mateo Kovacic (Achilles), while John Stones is nursing a minor muscle issue and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Guardiola will weigh up how many changes to make to his starting lineup, with the likes of Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, Nico Gonzalez, Oscar Bobb and Savinho all in contention to earn a recall after beginning as substitutes against Man United.
One player who is expected to retain his starting spot is Haaland, who has found the net 49 times in just 48 Champions League appearances and is bidding to become the tenth player in the competition’s history to reach the 50-goal mark; Ruud van Nistelrooy (62 games) is currently the fastest to reach that milestone.
As for Napoli, all eyes will be on star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne who is set to receive a warm reception from the Etihad faithful and is poised to start against Man City less than three months after leaving the club where he spent 10 memorable years and won 19 trophies, including the 2023 Champions League.
However, De Bruyne’s Belgian compatriot Romelu Lukaku remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury and has been omitted from Napoli’s UCL squad along with Luca Marianucci and Pasquale Mazzocchi, while Amir Rrahmani (hamstring), Nikita Contini (broken hand) and Alex Meret (muscle) are also unavailable for selection.
While Hojlund will battle with 6ft 7in Lorenzo Lucca for a start up front, last season’s Serie A Player of the Year and ex-Man United midfielder Scott McTominay is expected to feature in Conte’s first XI, but former Brighton man Billy Gilmour might have to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, Ake; Rodri, Gonzalez; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Buongiorno, Spinazzola; Lobotka; Politano, Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay; Hojlund
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We say: Manchester City 2-1 Napoli
Napoli will fancy their chances of making the net ripple having scored in 15 of their last 16 group stage/League Phase games in the Champions League, and who will back against De Bruyne making his mark on familiar territory?
Man City will still be regarded as favourites at the Etihad, though, and considering that Haaland is in red-hot form, the Citizens should have enough to edge past their Italian counterparts on matchday one.
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