City face eight absentees for Porto opener as Doku and O'Reilly ruled out

Manchester City travel to the Estadio do Dragao to open their Champions League campaign against FC Porto with up to eight players unavailable across both squads, with Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly confirmed absentees for Enzo Maresca’s side.

O’Reilly withdrew from the warm-up before City’s weekend win over Coventry City, though Maresca described the midfielder’s problem as minor and suggested he has a chance of featuring in Sunday’s Manchester derby. Doku, who has been sidelined since picking up an injury in the Community Shield final against Arsenal last month, is closer to a return but arrives too late for the Porto trip. “He is back. I don’t know if he can be available for the weekend [vs Manchester United], but slowly, slowly he is back,” Maresca said.

The visit to Porto comes after a summer in which City spent a club-record £430m on new players, raising expectations heading into the European campaign. Maresca, however, was measured when asked about title ambitions. “I said many times when you are Manchester City the expectations are always higher. I like more to be focused on the day by day — it is very complicated to think where we could be in February, March, April. For me the most important thing is to see that we are improving game after game.”

Porto head coach Francesco Farioli is managing his own injury crisis. Defender Jan Bednarek, formerly of Southampton and Aston Villa, serves a suspension after his red card against Nottingham Forest in the Europa League last season. Victor Froholdt misses out after being knocked unconscious during Friday’s Liga Portugal win over Moreirense. Further absentees include forward Samu — once linked with Chelsea — alongside Zaidu, Oskar Pietuszewski, Vasco Sousa, and Andre Miranda.

“We are missing Bednarek, Froholdt and Samu, in addition to the absences of Zaidu and Oskar, important players,” Farioli said. “It will not be possible to have everyone, but it is an opportunity for the group to show their work and show that they can react positively to the absences.”

Despite the disruption, Farioli struck a confident tone about Porto’s prospects on home soil. “We will face one of the main candidates for the title, with great respect for their individual quality and organisation, but also for the legacy built by Pep Guardiola. With Maresca they are in a new cycle. Let’s do our best, knowing that whenever we play at the Dragao, something special can happen.”

Porto, who retained the Liga Portugal title last season, added six new signings over the summer, with only 18-year-old Gabriel Mec absent from their European squad list.