Riyad Mahrez can save Pep Guardiola and Man City from Champions League repeat

Riyad Mahrez will have another chance to shine on the greatest stage in European football once more, as he starts for Manchester City against Paris Saint-Germain.

Tonight though, the Algeria winger could be under more pressure than usual to help his City teammates to an important win.

With the likes of Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden absent from the matchday squad, Pep Guardiola has dropped a mini-bombshell by starting Oleksandr Zinchenko in his midfield three (or so we think, Twitter is ablaze with more creative hopes and fears!).

Of course, Zinchenko does play as a midfielder for the Ukraine national team, but at City he has largely been used as a left-back. Guardiola has handed him just his third start of the season, meaning that Bernardo Silva can push forward and play as a false nine.

On paper, it seems an odd decision by the City boss – one reminiscent of a team selection that backfired away at Liverpool in 2018.

For that Champions League quarter-final, first leg, Pep made an unexpected selection. He crow-barred an extra midfielder into the side – Ilkay Gundogan in that instance – in an attempt to keep possession and play out of Liverpool’s press.

All it did was leave City’s attackers isolated, and the Blues lost 0-3.

As good a player Zinchenko is, selecting him as a number eight instead of Bernardo seems a bit strange, given that any one of Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling or Cole Palmer could play the role of false nine instead of the Portuguese star.

Bernardo will no doubt play it well, but his new role breaks up the midfield triumvirate of Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo that has served City so well.

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For City to take a positive result that would qualify them for the last-16, Mahrez may need to have another special Champions League night.

He certainly enjoyed playing against PSG last season, scoring three goals over the two-legged semi-final to help City reach a maiden final.

Another sparkling performance tonight would no doubt take the spotlight off Guardiola’s unusual team selection.