Man City pair De Bruyne, Laporte to miss Champions League last 16 first leg

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte will miss the English club's UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg in Germany on Wednesday.

The Manchester club on Tuesday announced the 22-man squad for the RB Leipzig match on their website, but the club's Spanish head coach Pep Guardiola did not name Belgian midfielder De Bruyne and Spanish central defender Laporte.

Guardiola said De Bruyne and Laporte were ill, so the team traveled to Germany without them.

Manchester City's English central defender John Stones is also ineligible for the game. He was injured in a match against Arsenal in January and continues his recovery.

De Bruyne joined the Sky Blues from Germany's Wolfsburg in 2015.

Stones was signed from another Premier League club Everton in 2016, while Laporte left his boyhood club Spain's Athletic Bilbao for Man City in 2018.

De Bruyne, Stones and Laporte have helped Man City win four Premier League titles.

The RB Leipzig vs. Manchester City last 16 match at Leipzig's RB Arena will kick off at 2000GMT.

The second leg will be held in Manchester on March 14.