Rodrigo starts as City make four changes for Inter clash

Guardiola rings the changes as Blues bid to maintain 100% start to Champions League group stage

By Joe Bray, ESPN

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has made four changes to his starting line-up for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Inter Milan at the San Siro.

With City already guaranteed a place in the last 16 as group winners, Guardiola has taken the opportunity to rest some of his key players.

Ilkay Gundogan, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez have all dropped out of the team that beat Watford 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.

In their place, Rodrigo, Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling have been recalled.

Sterling will be looking to add to his tally of six goals in this season's Champions League, while Rodrigo is making his first start in the competition since joining City from Valencia in the summer.

Guardiola said he was happy to give some of his players a rest, but he insisted that he was still expecting a tough game against Inter.

"We have already qualified for the next round, but we want to finish the group stage with a win," he said.

"Inter are a good team and they will be playing for pride. We need to be at our best to get the result we want.

City have won both of their previous meetings with Inter this season, but Guardiola is expecting a different game on Wednesday.

"They are a different team at home," he said. "They have a lot of quality and they will be dangerous on the counterattack.

"We need to be careful and we need to take our chances when we get them.

City will be without Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte for the game, but Guardiola is confident that his team can still get the win.

"We have a strong squad and we have players who are ready to step up," he said.

"We know it will be a tough game, but we are confident that we can get the result we want.

City team: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Ake, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, Fernandinho, Sterling, Foden, Grealish, Jesus