Manchester City and Napoli Set for Champions League Showdown at Etihad

Manchester City will host SSC Napoli at the Etihad Stadium in their Champions League opener on September 18, 2025, at 20:00. The match, which will be officiated by German referee Felix Zwayer, marks the beginning of both teams' European campaigns in the 2025/2026 season. This Round 1 fixture brings together two in-form sides, with City looking to assert their dominance at home while Napoli aims to continue their perfect start to the season with an upset on English soil.

Manchester City (4-1-4-1, Pep Guardiola)
Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma (25)
Defence: Rico Lewis (82), Ruben Dias (3), Nathan Ake (6), Josko Gvardiol (24)
Midfield: Rodri (16), Bernardo Silva (20), Tijjani Reijnders (4), Phil Foden (47), Jeremy Doku (11)
Forward: Erling Haaland (9)
Absent: John Stones (5), Rayan Cherki (10), Omar Marmoush (7), Mateo Kovacic (8), Rayan Ait Nouri (21)
Doubtful: Marcus Bettinelli (13)

SSC Napoli (4-1-4-1, Antonio Conte)
Goalkeeper: Alex Meret (1)
Defence: Giovanni Di Lorenzo (22), Sam Beukema (31), Alessandro Buongiorno (4), Leonardo Spinazzola (37)
Midfield: Stanislav Lobotka (68), Matteo Politano (21), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (99), Kevin De Bruyne (11), Scott McTominay (8)
Forward: Rasmus Hoejlund (19)
Absent: Amir Rrahmani (13)

The two clubs have faced each other four times in the Champions League, with Manchester City holding a slight edge with two wins compared to Napoli's one victory and one draw. Their most recent encounter came on November 1, 2017, when City secured an impressive 4:2 away win at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Earlier that same campaign, City had also beaten Napoli 2:1 at the Etihad. Their first-ever meetings came in the 2011/12 Champions League season, with a 1:1 draw at the Etihad followed by a 2:1 Napoli victory in Italy.

Manchester City enter this match with mixed recent form, having won three and lost two of their last five matches. They bounced back impressively from consecutive Premier League defeats against Tottenham (0:2 on 23.08.2025) and Brighton (1:2 on 31.08.2025) with a commanding 3:0 derby victory over Manchester United (on 14.09.2025). Earlier in the season, City had shown their attacking prowess with a 4:0 win at Wolverhampton (on 16.08.2025) and a 3:0 friendly victory against Palermo (on 09.08.2025). Napoli, meanwhile, have been in sensational form under new manager Antonio Conte, winning all five of their recent matches. They've started their Serie A campaign perfectly with victories over Sassuolo (0:2 on 23.08.2025), Cagliari (1:0 on 30.08.2025), and most recently Fiorentina (1:3 on 13.09.2025), while also recording friendly wins against Sorrento (4:0 on 10.08.2025) and Olympiacos (2:1 on 14.08.2025).