Manchester City to be without O’Reilly and Doku for Porto clash

Samuel Ekow Amoasi Appiah September 07, 2026

Manchester City will travel to Portugal without Nico O’Reilly and Jeremy Doku for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League league-phase opener against FC Porto, according to the Manchester Evening News.

The two sides meet at 22:00 BST on Tuesday, with City beginning their European campaign at the Estadio do Dragao. O’Reilly and Doku are both unavailable, while summer signing Allan Elias could make his first appearance for the club.

O’Reilly suffered a back injury during the warm-up before Manchester City’s Premier League meeting with Coventry City in the third round earlier this week. The defender has therefore not been included in the squad for the trip to Portugal.

Doku’s absence is also injury-related. The Belgium international was hurt during the Community Shield fixture against Arsenal, and is expected to be sidelined for up to three weeks.

The absence of Doku leaves Manchester City without one of their regular wide attacking options for the opening match of the league phase. O’Reilly’s injury further reduces manager Pep Guardiola’s choices ahead of a demanding run of Champions League fixtures.

Allan Elias is in contention to step in for the first time since joining Manchester City during the summer transfer window. The Brazilian winger trained normally with the squad and could be handed his debut against FC Porto.

Manchester City signed Allan Elias from Palmeiras on a five-year contract. His potential appearance would provide the first opportunity for the club’s supporters to see the summer recruit in competitive action.

City’s league-phase schedule also includes home matches against Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting CP, SSC Napoli and AEK Athens. Away from home, they will face FC Barcelona, FC Porto, RB Leipzig and RC Lens.

The match in Portugal is the first of those eight fixtures, with Manchester City beginning their bid for success in the revamped UEFA Champions League format without O’Reilly and Doku but with the possibility of a first appearance for Allan Elias.