Pep Guardiola has three stellar Man City left-back options in Real Madrid headache

With Manchester City’s place in a second consecutive Champions League final at stake at Madrid on Wednesday night, Pep Guardiola has a few selection dilemma’s – but left-back is a particular area in which the manager has a tough decision to make.

Before what turned out to be an end-to-end first-leg encounter, fans were scratching their heads when trying to figure out who the manager was going to deploy at full-back. In the end, Guardiola risked John Stones from the start, with Oleksandr Zinchenko on the left flank.

Kyle Walker’s injury and Joao Cancelo’s suspension forced the Catalan’s hand a little, but the performance of the Ukrainian has given Guardiola an unlikely headache when picking his starting XI for the second-leg on Wednesday. Despite not being a regular fixture in the City side this season, Zinchenko – as he often does – stepped up when he was needed the most. The 25-year-old was solid in possession, progressive with the ball at his feet and even looked threatening when operating in the final third.

READ MORE: Real Madrid suffer major injury blow for Man City second leg

All of those traits have also been displayed by Cancelo this season. In what has certainly been his breakthrough campaign in a sky blue shirt, the Portuguese international has emerged as one of the most threatening full-backs in Europe.

Alongside Walker, the duo have been Guardiola’s regular starters in the biggest games, so if the former is fit, it’s likely he’ll revert to that set-up against Real Madrid. However, the City manager does also tend to reward players for excellent performances.

Most recently, Gabriel Jesus’ four-goal display against Watford in the Premier League earned him a starting spot in the first-leg against Real the