Sevilla told to 'pray' to handle Man City's Erling Haaland in Champions League fixture

Manchester City will begin their Champions League campaign tonight (Tuesday) when they take on Sevilla at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville.

On paper, City's opener will be the toughest test of the group stage as Sevilla are the second highest ranked team in Group G, according to UEFA's club coefficient rankings. Joining the English and Spanish sides in the group are German giants Borussia Dortmund and FC Copenhagen of Denmark.

City head into the match after an unbeaten start to the season; four wins and two draws leaves them second in the Premier League rankings, with all the focus centred around 10-goal striker Erling Haaland

READ MORE: Pep Guardiola must fix the one defensive problem that could cause Man City further set-backs

Sevilla, it's fair to say, have not enjoyed a good start to the new season. They have lost three and drawn one of their opening four LaLiga fixtures, including a 0-3 loss at home to Barcelona on Saturday.

City last faced Sevilla in 2015, when Manuel Pellegrini's side won 2-1 at home and 3-1 away in the Champions League group stage. Jesus Navas and Fernando, who both represented City in those ties, could feature for Sevilla on Tuesday.

To get some insight on the Blues' next opponents, MEN Sport spoke to Matt Clark of La Liga Lowdown and Football Espana Editor Ruairidh Barlow.

Sevilla are usually one of LaLiga's high fliers. Why have they had a bad start to the season?

MC: "The continuation of a trend that has been happening throughout 2022. Their forwards aren't convincing in front of goal, and their defensive solidity has evaporated.

"When combined with the uncertainty over Julen Lopetegui's future and the poor transfer window operations - losing their keystone central