Haaland headache! Maresca demands City response as Guehi warns of Jovic counter-attack threat

Manchester City host Greek champions AEK Athens at the Etihad Stadium on Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League. The fixture marks Manchester City's 150th match in Europe's elite competition, but Enzo Maresca's side enter the tie under pressure following a 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last time out.

Both teams currently sit level on three points in the League Phase table after recording one win and one defeat from their opening two matches.

Maresca stressed the importance of returning to winning ways in Europe following their recent setback.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Maresca revealed that top scorer Erling Haaland remains a fitness doubt following a busy period. "[Erling Haaland] can be available. We’ll see," Maresca explained. "He was quite good yesterday, better, so we will see today."

"The only one that will be out for probably eight weeks is Antoine [Semenyo]."

Addressing the importance of the fixture, the Italian manager added: "It’s a huge game tomorrow... We lost the last one so we need to win games. We are going to try to win the game with our best players in this moment."

Defender Marc Guehi backed his manager's cautious tone, warning that AEK Athens possess dangerous forward players capable of hurting City on the break. "We know they are a very good team. They won their first game and they've got good attackers like [Luka] Jovic and Joao Mario," Guehi observed.

"They are players that have a lot of experience in attack and can definitely cause problems. We have to be mindful of that."

"We're sure that they'll come here and try to make the game difficult, potentially trying to hit us on the counterattack," Guehi added. "That's another aspect for us to focus on."

Manchester City enter the contest with a strong historical record against Greek opposition, remaining unbeaten across four previous UEFA encounters without conceding a single goal.

However, with AEK well-rested following the postponement of their domestic weekend fixture, Maresca's men must maintain complete tactical focus.

City aim to secure three vital points to solidify their position in the Champions League standings.