Manchester City confirm 23-man squad for UEFA Champions League league phase

Manchester City have officially announced their 23-man List A squad for the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League. The team, managed by Pep Guardiola, is set to face challenging opponents including Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and Napoli in the group stage. The announcement comes just days before their opening match against Napoli at the Etihad Stadium on September 18.

Under UEFA regulations, clubs are allowed to submit a maximum of 25 players on List A, which must include at least two goalkeepers and eight locally trained players. Additionally, List B can be updated before each match and includes eligible youth players born on or after January 1, 2004, who have been registered with the club for two uninterrupted years. Manchester City's inclusion of young talents like Rico Lewis and Nico O’Reilly on List B highlights both the strength of their academy and Guardiola's trust in youth development.

The new Champions League format emphasizes the importance of squad rotation, with eight league phase matches scheduled between mid-September and the end of January. Manchester City's finalized List A squad for the league phase includes goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma, James Trafford, Stefan Ortega Moreno, and Marcus Bettinelli; defenders Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Abdukodir Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake, and Rayan Ait-Nouri; and midfielders Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Nico, Tijjani Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, and Rayan Cherki.