24-man Manchester City squad spotted in training ahead of Villarreal clash | OneFootball

Manchester City have concluded their training ground preparations ahead of their third UEFA Champions League clash of the ongoing campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side remain unbeaten in the competition heading into matchday three, but have already dropped points in a league phase format that caused them significant difficulties across the course of its first iteration last season.

City got their run of eight fixtures off to the perfect start on matchday one by dismissing of 10-man Napoli at the Etihad Stadium thanks to goals from the ever-prolific Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, on a night that saw Kevin De Bruyne’s return cut short in the first-half.

An opening night at home was then followed by a trip away to the south of France, as Erling Haaland notched twice against AS Monaco before Eric Dier would equalise for the hosts in the closing exchanges from the penalty spot as the contest concluded as a 2-2 draw.

Across competitions, Manchester City are unbeaten since the end of August establishing a run of eight matches without defeat and recording significant wins over the likes of Manchester United at home and Brentford away in that time.

Now, as City finalise their preparations for matchday three of their league phase adventure in the latest edition of the UEFA Champions League, here is the complete list of players spotted on the City Football Academy pitches from the first 15 minutes of the session!

24-man Manchester City squad in training

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, James Trafford, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Marcus Bettinelli.

Defenders: Matheus Nunes, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Midfielders: Kalvin Phillips, Nico Gonzalez, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden.

Forwards: Oscar Bobb, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku.

Pep Guardiola will no doubt be buoyed by the fact that his list of absentees is being kept to a minimum at present, but will have plenty to think of given the ongoing absences being endured by both Abdukodir Khusanov and Rodri.

The Uzbekistan central defender is expected to remain sidelined for the ongoing week, facing a race against time to put himself into contention for the weekend’s trip to face Aston Villa. City may operate with caution however, giving the youngster time to rest and recover sufficiently.

As for Rodri, the Spanish international is nursing a hamstring problem and Guardiola appears content to hand the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner enough time to recover naturally without too much pressure on an immediate return – despite his importance to the squad.