Stones, Bernardo return for City; Newcastle set for magical night

Manchester City have welcomed back John Stones and Bernardo Silva from injury as they prepare to take on RB Leipzig in the Champions League, manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday.

Stones has yet to play for City this season due to a hip injury and Bernardo Silva has missed the past two league games.

“They feel better. Bernardo better than John. Both travel and we decide tomorrow,” Guardiola told reporters. “John has not played one minute this season, Bernardo had an injury and the birth of his beautiful baby daughter but they’re back and it’s good news for us.”

City won the Champions League for the first time last season, and defeated Leipzig along the way. A 1-1 draw away was followed by a 7-0 thrashing in the home leg, but Guardiola is not taking anything for granted.

“It’s another game, another competition. It was a really good game for us, we had an incredible run at home ... a feeling in our bones, we wanted to make the final again and we did it.

“Now it’s the group stage, it’s completely different. They are doing really good things, how they attack the space ... it’ sa huge step for us if we get a result to get to the next round.”

Guardiola’s side appeared to be unstoppable when they won their first six league games of the season, but have now lost two in a row. After Newcastle United in the League Cup, they were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league last weekend.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen this season. What the* players have done is unbelievable. We concede two shots on target and we lost the game, that’s football,” said the Spaniard.

“We have to improve yeah, the base of what we did last season was Stones, Rodri, Bernardo, [Kevin] De Bruyne, [Ilkay] Gundogan, [Jack] Grealish and they weren’t there.

“Sometimes you have to adjust something, it’s normal. We’re not going to win the Premier League at Wolves or lose it. We’ve been behind many times.”

Rodri missed those recent defeats through suspension, but will now be available for the Champions League game. “After that he is going to take a rest, go to Madrid for five days before joining the national team.”

Manchester City travel to Germany later than expected on Tuesday, after their flight was delayed, and will face RB Leipzig on Wednesday in Group G of the Champions League.

Both sides have three points having played one game each.

Newcastle United play their first home Champions League game since 2003 against Paris St Germain at St James’ Park on Wednesday, but manager Eddie Howe’s attention will be on the game and not the occasion.

Howe’s side began this season’s European adventure with a 0-0 draw at the San Siro against AC Milan, and now face the Ligue 1 champions.

“I can only go back to the Milan game when the same moment happened. My focus wasn’t on the music [Champions League anthem] or the moment, it was just trying to help the players in any way we can,” Howe said on Tuesday.

“Yes, it will be a great moment for the club as a while to be back at home, a magical night in our stadium but for me, it’s about focusing on the match.”

One area of focus will need to be on how to deal with the threat posed up front by PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.

“It’s very difficult to combat him. Our defensive record has been strong. It’s never down to one player.

“I don’t believe in manmarking. We need to do well in our units, nullify the space and hopefully keep the best player in the world quiet.”