Aké starts in Champions League on the bench at Manchester City
Nathan Ake has to start on the bench at Manchester City against Sporting Portugal. The first game between these clubs in the eighth finals of the Champions League starts in Lisbon at 9 p.m. Aké, international of the Dutch national team, still had a base place in City’s last competition match.
With the 26-year-old Hagenaar at the center of the back, the team of coach Pep Guardiola won 4-0 at Norwich City on Saturday. Of the four defenders who then had a starting place, only the Portuguese defender Rúben Dias is also at the kick-off against his compatriots from Sporting. Dias wears the captain’s armband at the English club.
Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling, who scored a hat-trick against Norwich, are City’s vanguard. Sporting Portugal finished second in group C behind Ajax in the group stage.