Pep Guardiola benches Sergio Aguero for Manchester City vs. Barcelona
One of the most anticipated matches of the Champions League group stage takes place at Camp Nou, where Barcelona welcomes former player and manager Pep Guardiola back home as he guides Manchester City.
It's not Guardiola's first return to Barcelona as an opponent–he did so with Bayern Munich–but it is his stiffest test in the opening months of his stint with Man City. With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all in Barcelona's starting lineup, Spain's powerhouse isn't holding anything back.
The same may not be able to be said for City and Guardiola, who is opting to keep Sergio Aguero on the bench, at least to start, and deploying Kevin De Bruyne up top to spearhead the attack.
Here are the starters for both teams:
?? Barça XI:
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 19, 2016
1.Ter Stegen
3.Piqué
4.Rakitic
5.Sergio
8.Iniesta
9.Suárez
10.Messi
11.Neymar Jr
14.Mascherano
18.J.Alba
23.Umtiti #FCBLive
TEAM NEWS | Here’s how City line-up at the Camp Nou tonight! #FCBCity #mcfc pic.twitter.com/0TaziVXGOy
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 19, 2016
Barcelona enters the game atop Group C with six points through two games. Manchester City is second with four points after battling back from a goal down three times against Celtic to salvage a 3-3 draw.
Stay tuned for video of goals and key moments throughout