Young Boys vs Man City match facts

Young Boys are the latest team to try to halt the Manchester City juggernaut as the UEFA Champions League holders, and Group G leaders, come to Switzerland on Matchday 3.

Pep Guardiola's side have taken early control of the section thanks to 3-1 wins at home to Crvena zvezda – a game in which they had to come from behind – and at Leipzig. Young Boys went down at home to the German club by the same scoreline on Matchday 1 and had to settle for a 2-2 draw in Belgrade in their second fixture, being denied victory by an 88th-minute equaliser.

This is the sides' first meeting, and only City's third game against a Swiss side.

Form guide

Young Boys

Record vs English clubs: W2 D2 L6 F13 A26
Home record vs English clubs: W2 D0 L3

Young Boys were paired with City's neighbours Manchester United in both of their first two Champions League group stage appearances, losing 3-0 at home and 1-0 away – conceding in the 91st minute – in 2018/19. They fared better in 2021/22, a goal five minutes into added time from Jordan Siebatcheu snatching a 2-1 Matchday 1 win in Berne before a 1-1 draw in Manchester on Matchday 6 – those points accounting for four of the five YB accumulated in Group F.

The Swiss side won their first home game against an English club – 3-2 against Tottenham in the 2010/11 Champions League play-offs first leg, a tie they lost 6-3 on aggregate – and last, against United, but lost the three in between, conceding 12 goals and scoring only four.

Home and away, that 2021 win against United is YB's only victory in their last nine fixtures against English clubs (D2 L6).

This is YB's tenth Champions League campaign; they have come through qualifying three times but have lost in the play-offs on four occasions, most recently in 2019/20 against Crvena Zvezda on away goals (2-2 h, 1-1 a).

A team coached by Gerardo Seoane finished bottom of their Champions League group in 2021/22 on five points, four of those coming against Manchester United including a famous 2-1 win on Matchday 1.

The Swiss club played only six European games last season, beating Latvia's Liepāja 4-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round and Finnish side KuPS 5-0 over two legs in the next stage only to lose 3-1 on penalties to Anderlecht in the play-offs after each side had won 1-0 away.

YB have won one, drawn one and lost one of their home games in both of their previous Champions League group appearances.

Young Boys claimed their 16th Swiss title in 2022/23, and a fifth in sixth seasons, finishing 16 points clear at the top of the table. Raphaël Wicky's side also added the Swiss Cup, the club's third domestic double and a second in four seasons.

The Swiss side therefore entered this season's Champions League in the play-offs, beating Maccabi Haifa 3-0 on aggregate, all the goals coming in the home second leg.

YB have won seven of their last 11 home European matches (D1 L3).

Manchester City

City's only previous games against a Swiss club came in the 2017/18 Champions League round of 16, when they won the first leg 4-0 at Basel thanks to two İlkay Gündoğan goals and one each from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Agüero. Pep Guardiola's side progressed despite a 2-1 home second-leg defeat.

This is City's 13th successive Champions League group appearance; they have featured every season since 2011/12 and have reached the knockout stages in each of the last ten campaigns.

City won the Champions League for the first time in 2022/23, beating Inter 1-0 in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul thanks to a second-half goal from Rodri. Pep Guardiola's team had finished top of Group G before knockout wins against Leipzig, Bayern and holders Real Madrid (1-1 a, 4-0 h).

Guardiola's side have finished first in their UEFA Champions League group for six successive seasons.

The final victory brought Guardiola level with Zinédine Zidane and Bob Paisley with three European Cup wins as a coach in total. Only Ancelotti has more with four.

Guardiola, a winner with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, also became the sixth coach to win the European Cup with two different clubs.

Haaland was the top scorer in the competition with 12 goals. Midfielder Rodri was selected as Player of the Season.

The Cityzens also won the Premier League and the FA Cup in 2022/23, making them England's first treble winners since Manchester United in 1998/99. They became the tenth European team to win the treble and the first since Bayern in 2020.

City have already claimed European silverware this season, beating Sevilla 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Piraeus on 16 August to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time. The Premier League side were the 25th team to lift the trophy and the sixth from England, Guardiola becoming the first coach to triumph with three different clubs.

The Cityzens have won 16 of their last 30 away European matches (D9 L5), although they had drawn five in a row, including three in succession 1-1, before victory at Leipzig.

City have lost only two of their last 31 Champions League group stage matches (W23 D6).

Links and trivia

City's Swiss international defender Manuel Akanji came through the ranks at Winterthur (2007–2015), making his first-team debut in April 2014. He went on to play 35 second division games before signing for Basel in April 2015.

Akanji scored seven goals in 58 matches in all competitions for Basel, winning the Swiss Super League in 2015/16 and again in 2016/17, when his side also lifted the Swiss Cup, before signing for Borussia Dortmund in January 2018.

Akanji's international team-mates with Switzerland include Anthony Racioppi, David von Ballmoos, Ulisses Garcia, Filip Ugrinic and Cedric Itten.

Has played in England:
Saidy Janko (Manchester United 2013–15, Bolton 2015 loan, Barnsley 2016/17 loan, Nottingham Forest 2018/19 loan)

Latest news

Young Boys

Young Boys' record this season in all competitions is W9 D5 L2. They were held 0-0 at home by Swiss Super League leaders Zürich on Saturday.

Cédric Itten had scored in three successive matches, getting the final goal in a 3-0 home win against Basel on 8 October, before drawing a blank on Saturday when he was a second-half substitute.

Jean-Pierre Nsamé opened the scoring against Basel, and has three goals in his last four matches.

Ulisses Garcia was also on target, his first club goal since 19 October 2022.

Young Boys have kept eight clean sheets in their last 12 games in all competitions, although only three in the last seven.

YB were unbeaten in 18 home matches in their own ground (W15 D3), since a 1-0 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off defeat against Anderlecht on 18 August 2022, before losing to Leipzig on Matchday 1. They won their next two home matches before Saturday's stalemate.

The Berne club suffered their only Swiss Super League defeat of the season on 27 September, going down 2-1 at St Gallen. They have won six of their ten league matches in 2023/24.

Young Boys have beaten third division Breitenrain 5-0 and second division Neuchâtel Xamax 1-0 in this season's Swiss Cup to set up a last-16 tie at another third-tier side, Rapperswil-Jona, on 1 November.

Loris Benito returned on Matchday 2, his first appearance since Matchday 1 due to a muscular injury.

Sandro Lauper returned on Saturday having missed two games due to illness.

On 22 September Young Boys announced Kastriot Imeri was facing a spell on the sidelines due to a knee injury.

On 9 October Itten agreed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at Young Boys until summer 2027.

Manchester City

The English champions were 2-1 winners at home to Brighton on Saturday thanks to early goals from Julián Álvarez and Erling Haaland, although they were forced to endure a second-half fightback from the visitors and ended with ten men after Manuel Akanji collected a second booking late on.

Haaland's goal was his 61st for City in all competitions but just his second from outside the penalty area.

City have won their last 21 home games in all competitions, a new record for a Premier League club.

City went down 1-0 at Arsenal on 8 October – the first time they had lost successive Premier League games since December 2018.

Pep Guardiola's side had suffered their first league defeat of the season on 30 September, losing 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

City have lost three of their last five matches in all competitions – as many defeats as in their previous 42 games (W32 D7).

The English champions had won their first six league games this season and were the only team in the Premier League still to drop a point before losing at Wolves.

Haaland, who set a new Premier League record of 36 goals in 2022/23, already has nine to his name this season – three more than any other player – and had scored in four successive league matches, including a second-half hat-trick in the 5-1 home win against Fulham on 2 September, before drawing a blank at Wolves. He has 27 goals in 22 home league matches for City.

Haaland scored twice in Norway's 2-1 UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying win away to Cyprus on 12 October, but has found the net in only three of his last eight games for club and country – four goals in all.

On 27 September City lost 1-0 at Newcastle in the English League Cup third round.

City kicked off the season by losing 4-1 on penalties to Arsenal after a 1-1 draw in the FA Community Shield at Wembley on 6 August. It was their 15th appearance in the match and their ninth defeat – and a third in a row.

Oscar Bobb made his debut for Norway in the 4-0 win in Cyprus on 12 October, in which Haaland scored twice, and his first start in a 1-0 UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying defeat at home to Spain three days later, a result that booked the winners' place in next summer's finals. Rodri was in the visitors' line-up with Haaland also playing for Norway.

The same day, Akanji's third international goal helped Switzerland salvage a 3-3 draw at home to Belarus.

On 13 October Jérémy Doku set up what proved to be the decisive goal as Belgium won 3-2 in Austria to reach UEFA EURO 2024. The same day, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva started as Portugal held on to beat Slovakia 3-2 to also qualify for the finals in Germany.

Phil Foden, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker all started with Jack Grealish a late substitute as England reached UEFA EURO 2024 with a 3-1 win against Italy at Wembley on 17 October in a repeat of the EURO 2020 final.

Stones was a second-half substitute at Arsenal, his first appearance since the Community Shield due to a thigh problem.

Kevin De Bruyne has not played since suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury in a 2-0 win at Burnley in City's first Premier League game of the season on 11 August.

On 31 August Haaland was named the UEFA Men's Player of the Year at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco. Pep Guardiola took the coach's award.

Seven City players are on the 30-player shortlist for the 2023 Ballon d'Or, which will be announced in Paris on 30 October: Álvarez, De Bruyne, Dias, Joško Gvardiol, Haaland, Rodri and Bernardo Silva.