After drawing the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League opener against Inter at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City are back to play European soccer and will face Slovan Bratislava for their first away game of the European season. Pep Guardiola's side will have to deal with the absence of key player Rodri who will miss the rest of the season while the home team will try to react after a disastrous 5-1 defeat in their Champions League's debut against Celtic on Matchday 1. Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday, October 1 | Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Tehelné Pole - Bratislava, Slovakia
- Watch: Paramount+
- Odds: Slovan Bratislava +1600; Draw +475; Man City -800
Don't miss any of the Champions League. As always, you can catch all of our coverage across Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network all season long.
League phase schedule
Slovan Bratislava: Man City (home), Girona (away), Dinamo Zagreb (home), AC Milan (home), Atletico de Madrid (away), Stuttgard (home), Bayern Munich (away).
Manchester City: S. Bratislava (away), Sparta Praha (home), Sporting CP (away), Feyenoord (home), Juventus (away), PSG (away), Club Brugge (home).
Team news
Slovan Bratislava: Despite having a big game on Tuesday, coach Vladimir Weiss didn't make many rotations over the weekend, so he's expected to name the usual starting eleven for an historical game at their home stadium.
Possible Slovan Bratislava XI: Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Wimmer, Medvedev; Kucka, Ignatenko, Tolic; Barseghyan, Strelec, Weiss.
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola has taken a squad of 19 players to Slovakia for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League meeting with Slovan Bratislava while English defender John Stones said in the pre-match press conference he is "100%" ready if called upon by Guardiola to fill the midfield hole left by the season-ending injury to Rodri, in case he's needed.
Possible Manchester City XI: Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Nunes, Kovacic; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Prediction
It should be a quiet easy one for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola, after drawing the opening game of the tournament against Inter. Pick: Man City 4, Slovan Bratislava 0.