Napoli face Manchester City in the Champions Leagueplaceholder image
Napoli face Manchester City in the Champions League | Getty Images
Manchester City face Napoli in their opening match of the Uefa Champions League on Thursday night and two former Man Utd stars are involved.
City begin their European campaign with a home clash against the Serie A champions and will come up against club legend De Bruyne just months after he left the club.
The match will also see former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay and loanee Rasmus Hojlund return to Manchester after their exits from Old Trafford. McTominay has enjoyed a rejuvenated spell during his debut season in Italy, while Hojlund scored on his Napoli debut against Fiorentina last weekend.
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It is sure to be an emotional night as De Bruyne marks his Manchester return, and he will look to show City what they are missing after they opted against offering him a new contract in the summer.
Pep Guardiola has named an unchanged side from the 3-0 derby win over United last weekend, with Gianluigi Donnarumma selected in goal and Rodri at the heart of their midfield. It means Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico O’Reilly continue in the full-back roles, with Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden in the two wide attacking roles.
City XI: Donnarumma, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Rodri, Reijnders, Foden, Silva, Doku, Haaland. Subs: Trafford, Bettinelli, Ake, Gonzalez, Savinho, Nunes, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis, Mfuni.
Napoli XI: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Buongiorno, Spinazzola; Lobotka; Politano, Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay; Hojlund. Subs: Meret, Ferrante, Gutierrez, Jesus, Gilmour, Neres, Olivera, Elmas, Vergara, Lucca, Ambrosino, Lang.
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