MY ACCOUNT
Pep Guardiola picked homegrown talent CJ Egan-Riley for Manchester City’s second leg with Sporting CP, handing the 19-year-old a Champions League debut.
The youngster made his maiden first-team appearance in the 6-1 Carabao Cup win over Wycombe in September, but this was comfortably the biggest senior occasion of his fledgling career at the club.
He came in amid a defensive crisis for City, with Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker all unavailable. Ukrainian Oleksandr Zinchenko started at left-back, with John Stones and Aymeric Laporte in the centre.
It was a night at the Etihad Stadium when City were surely on their way through to the quarter-finals after seizing a commanding 5-0 lead in Lisbon three weeks ago.
Guardiola made six changes, with Egan-Riley joined by Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, who came into the side three days after the thumping 4-1 derby win over Manchester United.
Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Rodri and Riyad Mahrez dropped to the bench as Guardiola allowed that star quartet a breather, while Cancelo was unwell and Walker suspended.
Egan-Riley stepped in at right-back for England international Walker, who Guardiola ticked off in his pre-match news conference for the red card he received late on in City’s group-stage clash with RB Leipzig after lashing out at Andre Silva.
Guardiola said: “When one player does this stupid thing he deserves the three games, I’m sorry. I’m not so kind to Kyle in this kind of action.”
