Borussia MG v Manchester City

Gladbach are playing in the Champions League group stage for the first time, having finished third in the Bundesliga last season, but they made a dismal start to the current campaign.

The German outfit had a calamitous start to the season, losing their first six games, including their group opener at Sevilla.

Both sides are looking to get off the mark after defeats in their opening fixtures.

Schubert will likely persist with the same starting eleven which has helped the Foals to their current two-game winning run, and it will mean the likes of Thorgan Hazard – brother of Eden Hazard, who plays for City’s Premier League rivals Chelsea – and Andre Hahn will start from the bench.

After a 3-1 defeat of Stuttgart at the weekend, midfielder Granit Xhaka identified the reason for the change in fortune.

City were in the driving seat against Juve after Giorgio Chiellini’s own goal put them ahead.

However, Mario Mandzukic levelled for the Italian champions, before Alvaro Morata struck a late victor to condemn them to a damaging defeat.

Saturday’s 4-1 defeat by Tottenham also saw midfield powerhouse Yaya Toure suffer a hamstring injury, while keeper Joe Hart missed that game with an injury and both are doubts for the clash in the Rhineland.

The influential defender has missed City’s last three games with a calf injury and will not travel to Germany with the rest of the squad.

Gladbach will be without the services of captain and experienced centre-back Martin Stranzl as the Austrian is recovering from a fractured eye socket.

The Blues will also be without long-term injured trio Wilfried Bony, Gael Clichy and Fabian Delph.

“This season we lost against Juventus here, but we played better than Juventus. I’m absolutely confident we are going to do it because we did it the last two seasons after losing the first game”. It was their second victory in the competition, and it came during a period where they reached five European finals in eight seasons.

Chilean Pellegrini, however, remains confident of City’s chances. They have good players, of course, but they are not unbeatable. “Maybe they underestimate us and believe they can beat us at 80 or 90 per cent. To be honest, I don’t even know whether at Manchester City they know Borussia Monchengladbach or the players that well”.