Julian Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim took an early lead against Manchester City but have been pegged back. - © © gettyimages / DANIEL ROLAND
Julian Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim took an early lead against Manchester City but have been pegged back. - © © gettyimages / DANIEL ROLAND

Hoffenheim vs. Manchester City: UEFA Champions League CONFIRMED line-ups, match stats and LIVE blog

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Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann will be looking to steer his team to a maiden UEFA Champions League victory when they welcome Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side on Tuesday (kick-off 6:55pm CEST/5:55pm BST/12.55pm ET).

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The hosts come into the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to RB Leipzig on Saturday, a result that leaves them 10th in the Bundesliga standings. Still, they can take heart from their Champions League debut in mid-September, a 2-2 draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk. Nagelsmann's main personnel concerns now are in defence, with captain Kevin Vogt (thigh), Ermin Bicakcic (calf) and Havard Nordtveit (thigh) all absent. Inexperienced trio Stefan Posch (21), Kevin Akpoguma (23) and Justin Hoogma (20) deputise once more. FIFA World Cup finalist Andrej Kramaric is on the bench, meanwhile.

Manchester City boss Guardiola never faced Nagelsmann during his time in the Bundesliga, with the latter taking over at Hoffenheim in February 2016 - just a couple of weeks after Bayern Munich had beaten them at the Allianz Arena. Nevertheless, the Catalan tactician recently spoke in glowing terms of his opposite number, likening him to a coach schooled in Spanish football. The visitors arrive with most of their first-team squad available for selection, but former Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg man Kevin de Bruyne, as well as Claudio Bravo, Eliaquim Mangala and Benjamin Mendy are all out injured. Former Schalke youngster Leroy Sane starts in attack.

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CONFIRMED line-ups

Hoffenheim: Baumann - Posch, Hoogma, Akpoguma – Kaderabek, Grillitsch, Demirbay, Brenet – Belfodil, Szalai, Joelinton
Subs: Kobel, Nelson, Bittencourt, Kramaric, Grifo, Hack, Amade
Absentees: Vogt (thigh), Adams (ankle), Amiri (foot), Hübner (concussion), Geiger (thigh), Rupp (ligament damage)
Coach: Julian Nagelsmann 

Man City: Ederson – Otamendi, Kompany (c), Laporte – Walker, Gündogan, Fernandinho, D. Silva, Sane - Sterling, Agüero
Subs: Muric, Danilo, Stones, B. Silva, Mahrez, Jesus
Absentees: De Bruyne (knee), Bravo (Achilles), Mangala (knee), Mendy (knee)
Coach: Pep Guardiola

Match stats

    This is the first ever competitive meeting between these teams. City are currently bottom of Group F after losing 2-1 to Olympique Lyon on Matchday 1 - their fourth straight defeat in the competition. Guardiola faced Hoffenheim six times while in charge of Bayern, winning five and drawing one. The Citizens currently sit top of the English Premier League with 19 points (W6 D1) from their first seven games. Prior to this season, Hoffenheim's only other involvement in the Champions League was a 6-3 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in the qualifying play-offs in 2017/18. Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramaric and City's Riyad Mahrez played together at Leicester City in 2015/16, while Adam Szalai and Sane were teammates at Schalke (2013/14) and Leonardo Bittencourt and Ilkay Gündogan were at Borussia Dortmund in 2012/13.

Live updates

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