Pep Guardiola will take his Manchester City side to the Netherlands to face Dutch Champions Feyenoord in their UEFA Champions League Group F opener in Rotterdam. Napoli travel to Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the other game in the group.
The Citizens have had a flying start to the season and sit second in the Premier League, only behind city rivals Manchester United on goal difference, and following their 5-0 demolition of Liverpool on the weekend, they will be looking forward to yet another top-flight European adventure. Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane both scored twice in the rout over Liverpool and are likely to get the nod to lead the line with Sergio Aguero on Wednesday as Pep Guardiola looks to get off to a positive start on his quest for Champions League glory with City.
Feyenoord won the Eredivisie title for the first time in 18 years in 2016/17 to qualify for the Champions League group stage. They have started in fine fashion in 2017/18 and since beating Dutch Cup winners Vitesse in the Super Cup at the start of the season, they have won four from four in the league, scoring 12 goals along the way and sit three points clear at the top of the table at this early stage. Former Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt, led Feyenoord to that historic title and has since hung up his boots, however another former Red, goalkeeper Brad Jones, is currently between the sticks for them and will be relishing his opportunity against City.
Wednesday’s match will be the first competitive encounter between the two teams although Feyenoord tasted success in the Europa League last season when Jose Mourinho and the red half of Manchester came to town, winning 1-0 at De Kop courtesy of a late Tonny Vilhena strike. Feyenoord have won the European Cup just once in their history, back in 1970 while Manchester City are still seeking their first ever crown having only made their Champions League debut in the last decade. Head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who is no stranger to the competition having won it with Barcelona in 2006 with a victory in the final over former club Arsenal, will no doubt be desperate to add a winners medal as a manager to his collection and while Feyenoord have the most outside of chances, a win on Wednesday will certainly add fuel to the fire of their early season hopes and dreams.