Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov Start – Manchester City Team vs Barcelona Confirmed

Fixture: Manchester City vs Barcelona
Competition: Champions League
Kick-off: 19:45 (UK time)

Manchester City have named their starting line-up and substitutes to play host to Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium in a Champions League group stage game tonight.

The Citizens went down to a 4-0 defeat at the Camp Nou in the earlier group stage clash between the two teams in the middle of October and will be desperate to settle the score against the Catalans on home turf.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, looking to outwit his former side, picks a four man defence with Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov as the full-backs, while John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi are the central pairing. Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho will aim to control midfield, while Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and David Silva operate behind Sergio Aguero.

Guardiola has Vincent Kompany on the bench if needed, while Nolito and Jesus Navas are attacking options available for the Spaniard to call for.

Manchester City Team vs Barcelona

Caballero, Zabaleta (c), Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne, Aguero

Substitutes: Gunn, Nolito, Navas, Clichy, Kompany, Iheanacho, Fernando.

More games: friv

Manchester City Transfer News: Latest on Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna Rumours

Manchester City have reportedly told veteran full-backs PabloZabaleta, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy they will not engage in contract talks before the players prove themselves in manager Pep Guardiola's new system, opening the exit door for all three players.

That's according to Daniel Cutts of the Sun, who reported all three are in the last year of their current contracts and that none of them are guaranteed a spot in the squad for next season.

Cutts shared comments from a source at the Etihad Stadium, who pointed at the presence of several promising youth prospects who could replace the three if needed:

There are no talks in pipeline to discuss possible contract extensions for Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy.

All three are out of contract next summer but all given a reprieve by Pep Guardiola to prove themselves this season.

They are all over the age of 30 and with youngsters Pablo Maffeo andAngelino also knocking on the first-team door, City are biding their time.

All three have been valuable, long-term contributors for the Citizens, with Zabaleta and Clichy both having made more than 100 appearances for the club and Sagna impressing since joining from Arsenal in 2014.

Guardiola has already shown he cares little for longevity or status, however. Star goalkeeper Joe Hart, a key contributor to the club's two recent Premier League titles and four-time Golden Glove winner, has been loaned out to Torino, and Yaya Toure didn't even make the club'sUEFA Champions League list.

His approach won't make a lot of friends among the veterans, and as shared by Onefootball, Toure's agent is anything but happy:

The Spanish caretaker changed things up drastically during his time with Bayern Munich, often using David Alaba as a central option in a three-man defence and pushing Philipp Lahm into central midfield.

In Manchester, he has used his full-backs mostly as traditional full-backs, but Guardiola tends to change formations on the fly, and he's likely to do so in England as well. Per Gregor MacGregor ofFourFourTwo, he used nine different formations in a year in Munich.

Versatility is key under Guardiola, and younger players tend to be better at coping with change; veterans have often gotten used to a certain role they've played for years and usually need more time converting than youngsters with limited experience do.

The Citizens have high expectations for Pablo Maffeo and Angelino, and after investing heavily in young talent that can contribute in front of goal during the summer transfer window, it would make sense for City to prioritise other positions in January or next summer.

Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne are all expected to play big roles for the club for years to come, and it's the same for the likes of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. The one position where clear upgrades can be made is at full-back.

O Jogo (h/t Rob Dawson, Rob Pollard and Ciaran Kelly of the Manchester Evening News) have already linked the club with Benfica starlet and former Barcelona youngster Alex Grimaldo, and fans can expect to read many similar stories in the coming months.

Man City's Pablo Zabaleta back in full training

Fans' favourite is back and looking good at Manchester City as the squad prepares for the new season.

Pablo Zabaleta gave Manchester City a huge boost by returning to full training today.

The full back is still the subject of a lot of interest from Serie A clubs, but is said to be ready to stay and see out the final year of his contract with the Blues.

He has been battling back to fitness after missing the end of the season and reportedly having ankle surgery, which ended his chances of getting in the Argentina squad for the Copa America.

That came at the end of a troubled season in which he twice damaged knee ligaments and struggled to regain his form.

But Zabaleta, always a consummate professional, has clearly worked hard during the summer break and is looking trim and fit.

He reported back to the City Football Academy a fortnight ago but has been working individually since then.

Now the 31-year-old City icon is back working with the rest of the group and is set to be included in the squad which flies out to Germany tomorrow for Wednesday's opening pre-season fixture against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Zabaleta has been strongly linked with a move away from the club, and his agent was reportedly given permission to seek a new club for him.

That aroused plenty of interest from former City boss Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan, as well as Roma, but nothing concrete has come from that interest.

And Zabaleta, after a frustrating season, seems to fancy the idea of working under new coach Pep Guardiola and fighting it out with Bacary Sagna for the right back spot.

With youngsters Pablo Maffeo and James Horsfield both expected to be in the tour squad, Guardiola has plenty of cover, even though Sagna is not expected back until after the tour.

PAPER TALK: Juventus scout Brazilian starlet, Ansaldi agrees move to Inter

Today’s edition of Tuttosport reports that Juventus are interested in signing Fluminense left winger Gustavo Scarpa. The bianconeri have been scouting the 22-year-old starlet whose contract with the club expires in June 2019. Scarpa will play the Olympic games with U-23 Brazil national team.

Representatives of the Serie A side might meet the Brazilian club in the next few days to kick off negotiations.

Rumours and speculations about Inter transfer strategies are also mounting. With Pep Guardiola who wants to keep Pablo Zabaleta at the Etihad Stadium, Inter have reached agreement with Genoa full-back Ansaldi, though Inter have yet to make the right offer to the grifone who has recently signed Ansaldi to a permanent deal from Zenit for € 4 million.

According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Ausilio wants to sign Lucas Biglia, though Mancini’s priority is still Antonio Candreva who impressed for Italy national team yesterday night. Both players’ price-tag is around € 25 million.



OTHER HEADLINES

Juventus might offer € 25 million to cancel Real Madrid’s buy-back clause on Alvaro Morata (Corriere dello Sport)

It’s been confirmed that Tottenham star Erik Lamela is a target of Inter (Tuttosport)

‘Italy were more clinical than us, that’s the only difference between the two teams’, bitter Marc Wilmots claimed after Belgium’s 2-0 defeat to Italy yesterday night (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Courtois: ‘Italy outclassed Belgium’ (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Inter want to sign Argentinean wonderkid Miguel Almiron, but given his status of no-EU player, the Serie A club would loan him out to Bologna, Sampdoria, Chievo or Crotone (Tuttosport)

Mario Balotelli have denied reports suggesting that he was involved in a massive brawl outside a night club in Lonato, province of Brescia (Gazzetta dello Sport)


Luciano Vietto’s agent confirms that Lazio are interested in welcoming the services of his client (Corriere dello Sport)

Inter don’t want to extend Marcelo Brozovic’s stay and might decide to sell him in the summer for an offer in the region of € 35 million (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Wojciech Szczesny could stay for one more season at AS Roma as the Serie A side have officially requested Arsenal to extend the player’s loan (Tuttosport)

Napoli are in talks with Lyon to centre midfielder Corentin Tolisso as Piotr Zielinski has rejected a move to the San Paolo in favour of Liverpool move (Corriere dello Sport)

AS Roma will still try to keep Digne, despite the signing of Mario Rui from Empoli (Gazzetta dello Sport)


Giuseppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici will travel to Madrid this week to solve the situation of Alvaro Morata and will also ask information about former Inter star Mateo Kovacic (Tuttosport)

Sassuolo are leading the race to sign Gianluca Lapadula, whilst Domenico Berardi would like to stay at the club for one more season, snubbing a move to Juventus (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Pescara could replace departing striker Gianluca Lapadula with Palermo ace Alberto Gilardino (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Atalanta and Udinese are considering a swap deal involving Mauricio Pinilla and Cyril Thereau (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Former Udinese boss Colantuono could be appointed as new Bari coach in Serie B (Corriere dello Sport)

Newly promoted Serie A club Crotone are in talks over the appointment of Foggia boss Roberto De Zerbi (Corriere dello Sport)

REPORT: Juve rival Inter in hunt for Zabaleta

As reported earlier, Inter Milan are seeking a new full back, and while their Sporting DirectorPiero Ausilio admires Genoa 30-year-old Cristian Ansaldi, the first team’s head coach Roberto Mancini would like to sign Manchester City 31-year-old Pablo Zabaleta. The latter seems intended to quit the Citizensas he won’t be part of their new boss Pep Guardiola’s plans.
However, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, also Juventus are interested in the Argentina international. Zabaleta has in any case more chances to join the nerazzurri, considering the good relations with Mancini himself and between his agent Federico Pastorello and the Lombard club.

Paris and Manchester City primed for progress

Paris are in the quarter-finals for the fourth year in a row and Manchester City for the first time, and the two will be keen to continue their recent progress in the competition.

While Paris Saint-Germain are in a fourth successive UEFA Champions League quarter-final, Manchester City FC are making their first appearance at this stage – yet both will be equally desperate to advance.

Previous meetings

• Paul Le Guen's Paris earned a goalless draw against a Manchester City side managed by Mark Hughes at the City of Manchester Stadium in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage – their only previous meeting. Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany were in the City team.

• The teams in Manchester on 3 December 2008 were:
Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Dunne, Ben Haim, Garrido, Kompany, Ireland, Elano (Benjani 49), Vassell (Hamann 76), Sturridge, Jô (C Evans 65).
Paris: Landreau, S Traoré, Sakho, Z Camara, Bourillon, Makélélé (Armand 59), Clément, Rothen, Pancrate (Giuly 69), Luyindula, Kežman (Hoarau 69).

• City finished first in Group A with Paris third, both sides progressing to the round of 32. Both eventually lost in the quarter-finals, City going down 4-3 on aggregate to Hamburger SV while Paris were beaten 3-0 over two legs by FC Dynamo Kyiv.

Match background

Paris

• Paris have won their last four UEFA Champions League matches, including home and away 2-1 wins against Chelsea FC in the round of 16.

• Paris are in the quarter-finals for the fourth year in a row, having lost to Barcelona in 2013 and 2015 and Chelsea in 2014.

• Overall, their European Cup quarter-final record is W1 L3. They beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in 1994/95, subsequently losing to AC Milan in the semi-finals.

• The 3-1 home defeat by Barcelona in the 2014/15 quarter-final first leg was Paris' only home reverse in 38 games in European competition (25 wins, 12 draws) since Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC beat them in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Laurent Blanc's side have won three of their four home fixtures in this season's competition, the exception the goalless draw against Real Madrid CF on matchday three. 

• Paris are unbeaten in their last four encounters with Premier League opposition, all against Chelsea, since a 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge in April 2014.

• The Parisian club have played 13 matches against English sides with the record W4 D5 L4. At home it is W3 D2 L1.

• Their knockout record in ties against English sides reads W3 L2.

Manchester City
• This is City's first European Cup quarter-final. Their last two UEFA Champions League campaigns ended in round of 16 defeat by Barcelona, in 2013/14 and 2014/15.

• The 3-1 aggregate win against Dynamo Kyiv in this season's round of 16 – 3-1 away, 0-0 home – was City's first European Cup knockout victory. Aside from those Barcelona defeats, their only previous tie was a 2-1 aggregate loss to Fenerbahçe SK in the 1968/69 first round.

• City have won three of their four away games in this season's competition, losing 1-0 at Juventus on matchday five. 

• While this is City's first quarter-final, their coach Manuel Pellegrini has been there with two other clubs – Villarreal CF (2005/06, 2008/09) and Málaga CF (2012/13). Only Villarreal's 2006 side won their last-eight tie, going on to lose to Arsenal FC in the semi-finals.

Coach and player links

• Yaya Touré was a team-mate of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Maxwell at Barcelona in 2009/10.

• David Luiz joined Paris in summer 2014 after three and a half years and 81 Premier League appearances for Chelsea. He scored against City in Chelsea's 2-0 home win in March 2011.

• Also played in England: Angel Di María, Manchester United (2014/15); Benjamin Stambouli, Tottenham Hotspur FC (2014/15)

• Played in France: Bacary Sagna, AJ Auxerre (2004–2007); Touré, AS Monaco FC (2006/07); Gaël Clichy (AS Cannes, 2002/03)

• Joe Hart was in goal for England when Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimović scored four times in a 4-2 victory for the Blågult in a November 2012 friendly.

• Hart and Raheem Sterling helped England to a 2-0 Wembley win against Blaise Matuidi's France on 17 November 2015.

• Aleksandar Kolarov scored Serbia's goal in a 1-1 friendly draw against France in Belgrade on 7 September 2014. Matuidi came on for the visitors.

• Blanc ended his playing days at Manchester United between 2001 and 2003, appearing in a 3-1 loss at Maine Road on 9 November 2002.

• Clichy made three appearances for Blanc's France side at UEFA EURO 2012, including the quarter final loss to David Silva's Spain (2-0)

• Ibrahimović scored Barcelona's winner against Pellegrini's Real Madrid at the Camp Nou on 29 November 2009.

•  International team-mates: 
Sagna, Clichy, Eliaquim Mangala & Matuidi, Layvin Kurzawa (France)
Fernandinho & David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Lucas (Brazil)
Nicolás Otamendi, Martin Demichelis, Zabaleta, Sergio Agüero & Javier Pastore, Di María (Argentina)
Touré, Wilfried Bony & Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast)

Manchester City set record in FA Cup victory cruise against Norwich

Man City goalkeeper Willy Caballero is a proud man after helping the Blues et a new mark in the FA Cup at Carrow Road.

Manchester City set a record on Saturday when they fielded five Argentinians in their starting XI.

Willy Caballero, Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Nicolas Otamendi and Sergio Aguero all started for Manuel Pellegrini's side in their 3-0 win over Norwich in the FA Cup third round at Carrow Road – the first time five players from Argentina have played in the same English side.

Caballero says it was a proud day for all of them.

“Yes, of course, it's a day to remember because it's the first time,” he said. “We are really happy for this. It's good for us and Argentina as well.

“This is a good achievement today to win away and keep a clean sheet and now we wait for the draw for the next game.

“We are happy because we played very well the first half. Sergio scored a great goal, so we were comfortable after that.

“We gave a clean sheet away – that's really important for us and we defended really well today.

“We are also in the semi final of the other cup, so we have to be careful and arrive to this day with the same energy as today.”

Caballero has played just two games in the Premier League this season, but Pellegrini has confirmed he will play in every domestic cup match.

With Joe Hart in such excellent form this season, Caballero's chances have been limited, something he says is difficult to deal with.

“It's difficult [not playing every week] but I enjoy this team because it's a big club, a big opportunity, and now I play two games in a week and I feel really comfortable with the team. I'm enjoying every minute.”