2026-27 UEFA Champions League: League Phase – Porto vs Man City

Porto face Manchester City in a tough opening test to commence their league-phase campaign in the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League. 

Porto qualified for the league phase as Primeira Liga champions last season, whilst Man City finished second in the Premier League.

 

Team News

Victor Froholdt is ruled out for Porto after he suffered a concussion in an incident during their 2-1 Primeira Liga win over Moreirense.

Samu Aghehowa (cruciate), Oskar Pietuszewski (muscle) and Zaidu Sanusi (adductor) are ruled out.

Man City will be without Nico O’Reilly after he suffered a back injury during warm-up for their 1-0 Premier League victory over Coventry.

Jeremy Doku is still sidelined with a calf injury.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Porto host Man City at Estadio do Dragao on Tuesday 8 September at 8pm CEST, live on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

  • Porto are yet to beat Man City in the Champions League (D1, L1).
  • Man City draw 0-0 in their only previous Champions League visit to Porto in December 2020.
  • Porto have conceded just one goal in six matches across all competitions so far this season (W6), during which they scored 12 goals.
  • Man City are looking to keep clean sheets in consecutive games in all competitions for the first time under Enzo Maresca.

 

Prediction

Having not featured in the Champions League since the 2023-24 season, Porto certainly face a tough test on their return to the competition but currently unbeaten with just one goal conceded, they have to use that belief and confidence if they’re to win this tie.

Man City meanwhile will surely feel frustrated to had not comfortably beaten Coventry and instead were lucky to cling on in the closing minutes, so Maresca surely will want to see a clinical reaction in this match but they might just need to be patient in breaking down Porto’s defence.

I however do think that this could well end in a point apiece.

Prediction: Porto 1-1 Man City

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