5 Young stars set to travel but key man misses out for Manchester City vs RB Leipzig

Manchester City travel to Germany

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side travel to Germany to take on now managerless RB Leipzig, who have been struggling for form this season.

As a result, Jesse Marsch, only appointed in the summer, was sacked this weekend, after a 2-1 defeat to Union Berlin on Friday that left the bulls 11th in the Bundesliga, already 16 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

#RBLeipzig and head coach Jesse #Marsch have mutually agreed to part ways. Jesse Marsch has been released from his contract with immediate effect.

⚪🔴 #WeAreLeipzig pic.twitter.com/JQYkaCUJam

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) December 5, 2021

Thoughts of an easy tie against a new manager, however, are wide of the mark, with Leipzig knowing that they need to match or better Club Brugge’s result in order to qualify for the Europa League knockout rounds, having missed out on Champions League qualification.

Tomorrow’s aim: lock down 3️⃣rd place 🔒

All the permutations and how #RBL can secure #UEL football 🔗 https://t.co/hPz9GSnwy6

⚪🔴 #WeAreLeipzig #RBLMCI pic.twitter.com/6z8223cCbm

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) December 6, 2021

In the return leg, Brugge held onto a 1-1 draw with star-studded PSG, and with Leipzig playing in the earlier kick-off slot, they will feel the pressure to take at least a point.

Manchester City, meanwhile have already progressed as group winners, meaning that they could field a weakened side ahead of a hectic festive schedule for Guardiola and co.

5 Stars to travel but Gabi Jesus to stay home

Now of course qualified, Pep Guardiola is set to take 5 young players with his first team to Germany, all of whom could benefit from the 5 subs rule in European competitions.

PEP 💬 George, CJ, Romeo, Cole and McAtee – these five come with us.

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 6, 2021

Cole Palmer and James McAtee have already seen PL squads, but Romeo Lavia, Joshua Wilson-Esbrand, and CJ Egan-Riley are yet to taste first team action.

Meanwhile, there will be no sign of Gabriel Jesus, who picked up a knock at the weekend in their win over Watford.

“We will see how many minutes [Kevin De Bruyne] can play,” Pep said. Gabriel Jesus is the latest injury casualty after picking up a problem at Watford on Saturday.

🚨 Table: https://t.co/WLj5Dp28Mi#MCFC

— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) December 6, 2021

Will the side be strong enough to defeat Leipzig?

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This article was edited by
Josh Barker.