Manchester City begin a new Champions League era on Tuesday evening when Enzo Maresca takes his side to the Estádio do Dragão to face Portuguese champions Porto.

Both clubs enter the league phase with flawless domestic records, City having won their opening three Premier League matches and Porto taking maximum points from five in the Primeira Liga. Francesco Farioli’s hosts have conceded only once in the league, but a depleted Porto side now face an attacking test considerably greater than anything they have encountered this season.

Maresca takes City into unfamiliar territory

For the first time in more than a decade, Manchester City begin a Champions League campaign without Pep Guardiola in charge.

That inevitably changes the feel of their European campaign, but Maresca is hardly entering the competition without continental experience. He won the Conference League with Chelsea in 2024-25 and later oversaw six Champions League matches with the London club, including an emphatic 3-0 victory over Barcelona.

His opening weeks back at City have also been encouraging. The 3-0 Community Shield defeat against Arsenal provided an uncomfortable introduction, but City have responded by taking nine Premier League points from Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Coventry City.

Their 4-1 victory at Palace remains the most convincing performance of the Maresca era so far. Saturday’s meeting with Coventry was less fluent, requiring Erling Haaland’s 300th senior career goal to secure the points, while Gianluigi Donnarumma made several important saves at the other end.

A first clean sheet of the season was therefore welcome, even if the manner in which it arrived suggested City’s defensive structure remains a work in progress.

That vulnerability is particularly relevant on Tuesday because their recent Champions League record away from Manchester is surprisingly poor. City have won only two of their previous nine away fixtures in the competition and lost six.

Maresca nevertheless travels with an extraordinary collection of attacking options. Haaland remains the obvious reference point, while Rayan Cherki has quickly become influential behind him. Iliman Ndiaye’s first City appearance ended slightly early against Coventry, although the winger subsequently indicated that cramp rather than injury was responsible. Phil Foden offers another high-level alternative.

Enzo Fernández should retain a central role after City’s record signing was unexpectedly promoted into the starting XI at the weekend when Nico O’Reilly suffered a back problem during the warm-up. O’Reilly has not travelled to Portugal, while Jeremy Doku is also unavailable with a calf injury.

City’s attacking depth still means Maresca can change the nature of the game from his bench, something that may become particularly important if Porto succeed in making the opening hour uncomfortable.

Porto’s perfect record is about to receive a serious examination

Porto could hardly have prepared better for their Champions League return. After two seasons outside Europe’s leading competition, the Dragons reclaimed the Portuguese title last term and have carried that momentum directly into 2026-27.

They began by defeating Torreense in the Portuguese Super Cup before winning each of their opening five league fixtures against Alverca, Rio Ave, Arouca, Viseu and Moreirense. Eleven goals scored and only one conceded demonstrate the control Farioli has established.

Yet Tuesday represents an abrupt increase in difficulty. None of Porto’s domestic opponents so far possess anything resembling City’s attacking resources, meaning their defensive statistics require context. Farioli will now discover how well his structure holds when subjected to longer periods without the ball and attackers capable of exploiting even minor positional errors.

His task has also been complicated by two significant absences. Jan Bednarek is suspended following his dismissal against Nottingham Forest in last season’s Europa League quarter-final, leaving Nehuén Pérez likely to partner former Arsenal defender Jakub Kiwior in central defence.

Victor Froholdt will also miss out after being knocked unconscious against Moreirense. The young midfielder required hospital treatment and, despite recovering, will not be involved on Tuesday.

Those absences join a substantial injury list containing Vasco Sousa, Oskar Pietuszewski, Gabriel Mec, Zaidu Sanusi and Samu Aghehowa.

Porto do at least have the weight of European tradition behind them. This will be their 28th appearance at the Champions League group or league stage, a level of participation surpassed by only a handful of clubs.

Their history against City is less encouraging. Porto have never beaten the English side competitively, losing three of four previous encounters. Their sole escape from defeat was a 0-0 draw at the Dragão in 2020.

Producing something similar would represent a respectable opening result this time, but simply sitting deep for 90 minutes may prove difficult against a City team with so many different routes to goal.

Verdict: Porto can expose City without stopping them

Porto’s results demand respect. Six competitive victories from six matches and just one league goal conceded suggest Farioli has created a team that will not simply surrender because the opposition carries greater financial power.

The question is how much those numbers tell us before their first major examination. Missing Bednarek weakens the defence at precisely the wrong time, while Froholdt’s absence removes another important component from midfield. Against Haaland, Cherki and City’s collection of wide attackers, those losses could become increasingly significant as the match progresses.

City are not entirely convincing defensively themselves. Coventry created enough at the Etihad to require an excellent performance from Donnarumma, and a European away record of six defeats in nine should discourage any assumption that Maresca’s team will cruise through the evening.

Porto should have moments and are capable of scoring. Over the full match, though, City’s greater individual quality and the options available to Maresca should eventually tilt the contest towards the visitors.

It may be a demanding introduction to City’s post-Guardiola Champions League era, but they have enough to begin it with three points.

Tip

Manchester City to win and both teams to score.