Maresca set to rest Haaland and rotate squad as City host AEK Athens in Champions League

Enzo Maresca is poised to hand several Manchester City first-team regulars a rest when the club host AEK Athens in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Erling Haaland among the players in line for a breather amid a punishing run of fixtures.

The match at the Etihad is City’s third game in seven days, following a Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain last Wednesday and a Premier League clash with Ipswich Town on Saturday. The congestion shows no sign of easing: City face Aston Villa in the league on Saturday, then Brighton and Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup the following Wednesday, before the two sides meet again in the Premier League just three days after that.

Haaland has been in near-constant action since the start of the 2025-26 season, a workload that follows a heavy run of minutes under Pep Guardiola last term and international duty with Norway during the World Cup. The Tuesday fixture against a side City are expected to handle comfortably presents Maresca with a rare chance to manage the striker’s minutes without significant risk.

The rotation imperative has been sharpened by a knee injury to winger Antoine Semenyo, sustained at the weekend, which is expected to keep him sidelined for around eight weeks. Maresca addressed the injury ahead of the AEK game, saying: “In the first moment we expected an even worse injury, so we were more worried. After yesterday’s scan we feel much better because it’s not so big like we expected. It could be eight weeks.”

The Italian coach added that Semenyo’s return, pencilled in for around December, would effectively function as a new signing in terms of freshness: “When he is back around December it will be like a new player in terms of energy.”

With one fewer body available to share the load across three competitions, the pressure on Maresca to rotate intelligently has only grown. Tuesday’s home tie against AEK offers the clearest window yet to do exactly that, protecting key players ahead of the more demanding tests that follow later in the week.