Champions League line-ups: Manchester City vs. Napoli

Kevin De Bruyne, Rasmus Hojlund, and Scott McTominay are in the starting lineup for Napoli as they face Manchester City, who feature Gianluigi Donnarumma, Tijjani Reijnders, and Erling Haaland. The Champions League opener kicks off at 20:00 UK time (19:00 GMT) at the Etihad Stadium, with live coverage available on the Liveblog.

Napoli, managed by Antonio Conte, return to the Champions League after missing European competition last season, having focused on winning the Serie A title. The team strengthened during the summer with signings such as Sam Beukema and Hojlund, notably bringing in De Bruyne, who faces his former club. However, they are without Romelu Lukaku due to a long-term thigh injury, which led to Hojlund's late acquisition from Manchester United. Additional absences include Amir Rrahmani and a not fully fit Alex Meret, prompting Beukema and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to start. Leonardo Spinazzola is preferred at left-back for his attacking qualities over Mathias Olivera.

For Manchester City, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, born near Naples, makes an emotional return to Italy. He impressed in his debut with a 3-0 win over Manchester United and aims to secure back-to-back Champions League titles after previous success with PSG. Reijnders, a former Milan midfielder, joins Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden in supporting striker Haaland. Despite injury concerns affecting players like John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, and Mateo Kovacic, manager Pep Guardiola fields an unchanged lineup from the Manchester Derby. City has had a mixed start to the season with two wins and two losses in the Premier League, and they face a crucial match against Arsenal shortly after this game.

The confirmed starting XI for Manchester City is: Donnarumma; Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Rodri; Bernardo Silva, Foden, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland. Substitutes include Trafford, Bettinelli, Ake, Nico Gonzalez, Savinho, Matheus Nunes, Bobb, Mukasa, Lewis, and Mfuni.