UEFA Nations League – Round 6

The Blues returned from the final international break in 2018. How did their national teams fare?

In Europe, several Blues saw their national teams succeed in the inaugural UEFA Nations League. In League A, England and Portugal qualified for the competition’s semi-finals. The draws for the semi-finals will be held on 3 December, and it is very likely Portugal’s Bernardo Silva could face English teammates Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Fabian Delph and Kyle Walker.

Elsewhere in League A, Vincent Kompany’s side missed out on a place to the semi-finals, yet Belgium will retain their place in the League A. Leroy Sané’s Germany were relegated to League B.

In League B, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ukraine secured promotion to the competition’s prestigious League A. Their remaining two matches in 2018, however, saw them lose heavily to Slovakia and they concluded the year with a drab affair against Turkey.

In League D, Aro Muric and Kosovo won their remaining matches and were promoted to the competition’s League C. This is a remarkable achievement for the Kosovars, who were recently accepted as a member of UEFA in May 2016.

Outside of Europe, Brazil won their friendly matches against Uruguay and Cameroon. Danilo featured in both games whilst Ederson and Gabriel Jesus made appearances in the fixture against Cameroon. Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez and Algeria qualified for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with their victory over Togo.

Outside of international duty, İlkay Gündoğan, Sergio Agüero, Aymeric Laporte, Eliaquim Mangala, Fernandinho, Nicolás Otamendi and David Silva trained with City’s first team. Claudio Bravo, Kevin De Bruyne and Benjamin Mendy remain injured.

Having concluded their respective international duties, the first team has now returned to Manchester. The Blues will travel to London on English Premier League Matchday 13. They will face West Ham United on Saturday, 24 November.