Stones, Reijnders and Savinho recalled for Dortmund clash | OneFootball

City have made three changes for this evening's clash with Borussia Dortmund.

John Stones, Tijjani Reijnders and Savinho are all recalled, with Rayan Cherki, Bernardo and Ruben Dias all making way.

Erling Haaland takes the captain's armband against his former team, while Oscar Bobb and Abdukodir Khusanov are on the bench.

Line-ups

CITY: Donnarumma, Nunes, Stones, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Reijnders, Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland (C)

Subs: Trafford, Bettinelli, Dias, Ake, Marmoush, Cherki, Bernardo, Ait-Nouri, Khusanov, Bobb, Lewis

DORTMUND: To follow...

Formation

Gianluigi Donnarumma will have Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly as his full-backs, with Stones and Gvardiol in central defence.

Nico will resume the anchoring role, with Reijnders and Phil Foden as the more advanced midfielders of the trio.

Savinho and Jeremy Doku will patrol the flanks with Haaland through the middle.

German double-header

City have successive Champions League home games against Bundesliga opposition this month - and it could shape our league phase campaign.

The Blues will start as favourites to win both games, starting tonight against Dortmund and then in a fortnight, we will take on Bayer Leverkusen.

Win both and City will have 13 points from five games, with the likelihood that a couple  more points from the three remaining matches will ensure a top eight finish.

It would also be ideal to travel to Real Madrid in December on the cusp of securing Round of 16 qualification.

Of course, standing in our way are two very experienced German sides, starting with a useful Dortmund this evening...

WATCH: Jeremy Doku: Unfiltered

Stats, facts & milestones

This will be the seventh time City and Borussia Dortmund have faced each other in the UEFA Champions League, with the German side only managing one win in the previous six (D2 L3).

City have conceded the opening goal in four of their six UEFA Champions League games against Borussia Dortmund, but have only lost one of those four (W2 D1) and come back to win in each of the last two when going 1-0 down (2-1 in April 2021 and September 2022).

Borussia Dortmund have netted the opening goal in two of their three away matches against City in the UEFA Champions League, but have been denied a victory on both occasions by goals conceded from the 80th minute onwards (drew 1-1 in October 2012 and lost 2-1 in September 2022).

City manager Pep Guardiola is unbeaten in his last 10 games against Borussia Dortmund across all competitions (W6 D4), with his last defeat against them coming in the 2014 German Super Cup final. All three of his defeats in 15 total matches against Dortmund (W8 D4) came between 2013 and 2014 during Jürgen Klopp’s reign.

Borussia Dortmund have scored 12 goals in the UEFA Champions League, despite having an expected goals total of just 4.5. Indeed, across the opening three matchdays this season, the Germans had the biggest positive differential against their expected goals (+7.5), as well as the highest shot conversion rate (37.5%) of any side.

City are unbeaten in their last 22 home matches played in the group/league phase of the UEFA Champions League (W19 D3), since a 2-1 defeat to Lyon in September 2018. The only team to stop the Citizens scoring across these 22 games was Internazionale in September 2024 (0-0), who finished as runners-up in last season’s edition.

Borussia Dortmund have scored four goals in each of their last three UEFA Champions League matches (4-4 v Juventus, 4-1 v Athletic Club and 4-2 v Copenhagen). They could become the first team in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history to score 4+ goals in four consecutive games here.

City’s Erling Haaland could become the first player to score in five consecutive UEFA Champions League appearances for as many as three different teams, having previously done so for RB Salzburg (November 2019, five games) and Borussia Dortmund (March 2021, six games). Haaland has netted in his last four outings in the competition for the Citizens, netting six goals in total.

Across the first three matchdays of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League campaign, the two defenders with the most line-breaking passes were City’s Josko Gvardiol (51) and Borussia Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini (47).