- Porto vs Man City LIVE: Champions League updates as Erling Haaland and Co. begin campaign
Manchester City begin their 2026-27 UEFA Champions League campaign with a trip to Portugal where they take on FC Porto on Tuesday.
Enzo Maresca was part of Pep Guardiola's staff when City last won the trophy in the 2022-23 season, and the Italian will be aiming for a repeat, given City's round-of-16 exit to Real Madrid last season.
Fellow Italian Francesco Farioli oversaw Porto's run to a domestic league title last season which ensured their return to the Champions League stage. They have continued their form into this campaign winning five from five in the league, much like City -- who also have a 100% record to start their league campaign.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, CBS/Paramount+ in the U.S., SonyLIV in India, and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S ET: Tuesday, September 08, 3 p.m.
UK BST: Tuesday, September 08, 8 p.m.
India IST: Wednesday, September 09, 12.30 a.m.
Australia AEST: Wednesday, September 09, 5 a.m.
Venue: Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
VAR: Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)
Injury and Team News
FC Porto
Oskar Pietuszewski, F: knock, DOUBT
Vasco Sousa, M: leg, OUT
Zaidu Sanusi, D: muscle, OUT
Samu Aghehowa, F: ACL, OUT
Manchester City
Nico O'Reilly, D: knock, DOUBT
Jérémy Doku: calf, OUT
Expected Lineups
FC Porto Predicted XI (4-3-3)
Diogo Costa
Alberto Costa | Jan Bednarek | Jakub Kiwior | Moura
Victor Froholdt | Pablo Rosario | Gabri Veiga
William Gomes | André Silva | Pepê
Manchester City Predicted XI (4-2-3-1)
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Abdukodir Khusanov | Rúben Dias | Marc Guéhi | Josko Gvardiol
Elliot Anderson | Enzo Fernández
Rayan Cherki | Phil Foden | Antoine Semenyo
Erling Haaland
Talking Points
Farioli can raise his reputation with result over City
Once a goalkeeping coach for Roberto de Zerbi, Francesco Farioli had impressive spells with Nice and Ajax before arriving at Porto. The Italian briefly challenged the might of Paris Saint-Germain before falling away, while his Ajax side spectacularly imploded, blowing a nine point lead with five games to go.
Those question marks over his ability to get over the line came to a swift end last season as Porto romped to the title, despite their rivals having impressive seasons as well. However his all-conquering Porto side came unstuck against English opposition in Europe, with Nottingham Forest responsible for their only loss in the UEFA Europa League league phase and a 1-2 aggregate defeat in the quarterfinals.
Farioli's side have started with seven wins from seven in all competitions and the winning habit can certainly cause City plenty of problems, especially with the cauldron that is the Estádio do Dragão roaring the home side on. The youthful talents of Gabri Veiga, Victor Froholdt and William Gomes have enough to cause City's defence plenty of issues.
Manchester derby may distract Maresca
Enzo Maresca defended Manchester City's summer spending by pointing at the depth in Premier League champions Arsenal's squad -- and his wealth of options will certainly face quite the test. With a weekend trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester City on the horizon, one could certainly argue that City could rotate a few players against Porto.
However, a Porto side at home can truly hurt City if there is a whiff of complacency and Maresca will be keen on getting his first UCL campaign in charge of the club off to a good start. The likes of Phil Foden, Ayound Bouaddi and more didn't start against Coventry, with Maresca's squad now having enough quality to rotate without a dip in on-pitch performance.
Porto have never defeated City in the four games between the two sides, and Maresca will be keen on not making history of the wrong kind. With Erling Haaland bringing up his 300th club goal of his career against Coventry, one would not bet against him starting on the journey to 400 against Porto.
What do the numbers say?
Porto have only last one of their last 14 home games in Europe (10-3-1 W-D-L)
Manchester City are playing their 150th European Cup / UCL match.
City have lost six of their last nine away UCL games (2-1-6 W-D-L)
19 of City's last UCL games have involved two or more goals.
City have been in the last 16 UCL seasons - the longest streak of any English team.