Laporte De Bruyne Stones Man City splitGetty Images

Kevin De Bruyne to miss Man City's Champions League clash against RB Leipzig with Aymeric Laporte & John Stones also unavailable

  • De Bruyne, Laporte, Stones absent
  • All three sat out Tuesday's training
  • Perrone, Charles and Robertson come in

WHAT HAPPENED? None of the trio feature in Pep Guardiola's list of 22 players to travel to Germany, with De Bruyne and Laporte the surprise omissions. The Belgian was hooked in the closing stages of City's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday but was not thought to be carrying an injury at the time, while the Spaniard played the full 90 minutes.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Despite that, the trio sat out training on Tuesday morning before the decision was made to leave them out of the travelling party entirely. January signing Maximo Perrone, Northern Irish starlet Shea Charles and Man City Under-21 midfielder Alex Robertson have been selected for the trip to Leipzig in their place.

WHAT THEY SAID?: While Stones is still in recovery from a thigh injury picked up in the FA Cup victory over Arsenal last month, Guardiola revealed in a press conference that De Bruyne and Laporte would be out through illness: "It is what is during the season, unfortunately. [De Bruyne] didn't feel good right after the game with Forest on Sunday. Yesterday, Aymeric [Laporte] didn't feel good. It happens sometimes."

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IN THREE PHOTOS:

Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester CityGetty ImagesAymeric Laporte Manchester City 2022-23Getty ImagesJohn Stones Manchester City Arsenal FA Cup 2022-23Getty

WHAT NEXT FOR CITY? Guardiola's side will be without three key players for a trip to Leipzig, who currently sit fifth in the Bundesliga, before league and FA Cup fixtures against Bournemouth and Bristol, respectively, within the space of a week.

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