Preview: Villarreal vs Manchester City

Manchester City have an unsightly Champions League streak to end when they visit the Estadio de la Ceramica for Tuesday's Champions League league-phase clash with Villarreal.

Pep Guardiola's men have failed to win any of their last five away games in the competition, but their hosts are still waiting for their first victory of this season's tournament.

Match preview

Eric Dier scoring a penalty is very much a collector's item in football, as the former Tottenham Hotspur defender had never even taken a top-level spot kick before Monaco's Champions League clash with Manchester City, according to Transfermarkt.

However, Dier proved devastating from 12 yards at the Stade Louis II on matchday two, as the Englishman won and scored a 90th-minute penalty to hold Man City to a 2-2 draw following earlier efforts from Erling Haaland (2) and Jordan Teze.

Dier's late intervention prolonged a miserable run on the road for Guardiola's side, who have now gone five away games without success in the Champions League, losing four straight matches on their travels to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Sporting Lisbon last term.

In fact, it has been a little over a year since Man City's last away win in Europe - a 4-0 beating of Slovan Bratislava on October 1, 2024 - but the Sky Blues have atoned for their Monegasque mistakes over the past two Premier League gameweeks.

Indeed, Tuesday's visitors edged out Brentford 1-0 before another Haaland-inspired 2-0 home triumph over Everton on Saturday afternoon - a result that extended their unbeaten run to eight matches and briefly lifted them to the top of the Premier League table before Arsenal bumped them back down.

Also sharing the spoils in a four-goal thriller on matchday two, Villarreal were coincidentally the beneficiaries of a 90th-minute equaliser against Juventus, who were on course for a 2-1 win at La Ceramica thanks to Federico Gatti and Francisco Conceicao's efforts.

However, taking a leaf from Arsenal's set-piece book, the Yellow Submarine drew themselves level late on courtesy of a Renato Veiga header from a corner, as the former Chelsea man propelled Villarreal to their first point of the 2025-26 tournament.

Marcelino's men had succumbed to a narrow defeat at Tottenham Hotspur first up, but the stalemate with Juventus - as creditable as it was - marked the first game of a three-match winless run for the Spanish hosts heading into Tuesday's tussle.

Villarreal were bested 3-1 by La Liga title-chasers Real Madrid before the international break, and the Yellow Submarine became the latest victims of the Antony renaissance on Saturday, when the Manchester United flop scored twice in the final 30 minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw for Real Betis.

To make matters worse for Villarreal, the 2020-21 Europa League champions have failed to win any of their last eight competitive matches with English clubs, and they were overcome twice by Man City in the 2011-12 UCL group stage - 2-1 away and 3-0 at home.

Villarreal Champions League form:

Villarreal form (all competitions):

Manchester City Champions League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Team News

Man City boss Guardiola should be working with either an identical or strengthened squad for the trip to Villarreal, where left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri might be in with a chance of featuring following an ankle injury.

However, Abdukodir Khusanov's similar concern will sideline the Uzbekistan international for a little while longer, while Rodri is also not expected back from his hamstring problem before the end of the month.

The tight turnaround should see Guardiola ponder a few changes for Tuesday's game, where Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki could play their first Champions League minutes of the season after recovering from injuries.

On Villarreal's end, Marcelino's centre-back ranks are depleted by the absences of Logan Costa (ACL) and ex-Man Utd defender Willy Kambwala (hamstring), while Juan Foyth (unspecified) is likely to miss out again too.

Fledgling striker Pau Cabanes (also ACL) completes a four-man injury list for the hosts, but in brighter news, right-back Santiago Mourino is available again after serving a La Liga suspension at the weekend.

The Uruguayan should come straight back into the Yellow Submarine's starting XI, most likely alongside former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe and number nine Georges Mikautadze, who combined for Villarreal's first goal against Juventus.

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Tenas; Mourino, Marin, Veiga, Cardona; Gueye, Parejo, Comesana; Pepe, Mikautadze, Buchanan

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Stones, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez; Bobb, Silva, Foden, Doku; Haaland

We say: Villarreal 1-3 Manchester City

La Ceramica has arguably achieved fortress status for Villarreal, who are still unbeaten at home in all competitions this season and have lost just one of their last 10 continental matches in front of their own fans.

However, the hosts' stellar streak at their headquarters will surely come to an end against a Haaland-inspired Man City, whose already-intimidating attacking ranks are further boosted by Cherki and Marmoush's recent returns.

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