Maresca Prepares for Porto Clash with Squad Rotation

Enzo Maresca is not treating Tuesday night in Porto as just another group game. The Manchester City head coach looks ready to lean on his squad depth, and that could mean a step back for one of his biggest names.

Enzo Fernandez, the £125m headline signing, is the obvious flashpoint. He was supposed to watch Saturday’s Premier League win over Coventry City from the bench, only to be thrown into the starting XI when Nico O’Reilly pulled up with a back problem in the warm-up. Plans ripped up, debut brought forward.

Fernandez lasted 76 minutes alongside Elliot Anderson, a solid if unspectacular first outing in sky blue. It did its job. Now the schedule bites.

Three days later comes Porto in the Champions League, with a Manchester derby already looming on the horizon. Maresca cannot run the same players into the ground this early in the season, and he knows it. The rotation that was delayed at the weekend is likely to land in full in Portugal.

At the heart of that is Ayyoub Bouaddi. The midfielder has already tasted Champions League nights with Lille and has the kind of composure that travels well. He is pushing hard to come into the side, and this feels like the moment Maresca trusts him from the start.

Bouaddi’s inclusion would be one of several tweaks. Iliman Ndiaye, who made his debut against Coventry, was forced off in the 87th minute with cramp. No long-term concern, just a reminder of the intensity required at this level. Even so, his place is under threat from a fully-fit Phil Foden, who is primed to walk back into the XI at the Estadio do Dragao. Jeremy Doku, still hampered by a calf issue, remains unavailable and leaves Maresca with one fewer option out wide.

The reshuffle won’t stop there. At the weekend, Abdukodir Khusanov and Josko Gvardiol were asked to patrol the full-back positions. Different challenge, different venue, different plan. Matheus Nunes and Rayan Ait-Nouri are both in line to start, offering fresh legs and a more attacking thrust down the flanks against William Gomes and the evergreen Pepe.

It all points towards a side built to control the ball but still punch hard in transition. The likely XI is stacked with technical quality and running power:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Guehi, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Anderson, Bouaddi; Semenyo, Cherki, Foden; Haaland.

Fernandez may have to watch this one from the bench, a reminder that at City, price tags don’t guarantee minutes. With Porto away and a derby on the way, Maresca’s first big rotation call will say plenty about how he intends to navigate a season that is only just starting to accelerate.