Stones replaces banned Walker for Man City’s Atletico clash
Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City made three changes as John Stones replaced the suspended Kyle Walker for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Atletico Madrid.
City boss Pep Guardiola opted to select England centre-back Stones to fill the void left by Walker, who is serving the final game of a three-match ban following his dismissal against Leipzig in December.
Ahead of kick-off at the Etihad Stadium, it remained to be seen whether Stones would operate as a direct replacement for Walker at right-back or play in the centre with Nathan Ake moving to left-back and Joao Cancelo switching to right-back.
City star Kevin De Bruyne made his 50th Champions League appearance, while Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva returned in place of Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, who had featured in the Premier League leaders’ win at Burnley on Saturday.
Guardiola’s side, beaten in last season’s Champions League final by Chelsea, are seeking to avoid suffering the same fate as Manchester United, who were eliminated by Atletico in the last 16.
The Spanish champions featured Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix up front, meaning Luis Suarez was left on the bench.
Felipe replaced injured Uruguayan centre-back Jose Gimenez.
Manchester City (4-3-3)
Ederson; John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo; Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling
Coach: Pep Guardiola (ESP)
Atletico Madrid (5-3-2)
Jan Oblak; Sime Vrsaljko, Stefan Savic, Felipe, Reinildo Mandava, Renan Lodi; Marcos Llorente, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Koke; Antoine Griezmann, Joao Felix
Coach: Diego Simeone (ARG)
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (ROU)