Leroy Sane scored twice as Manchester City recovered from a goal down to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 in their final Champions League group game.
The German attacker scored a sublime free kick late in the first half to cancel out Andrej Kramaric's opener from the penalty spot.
Sane's second strike just after the hour would prove to be the winner, tucking the ball past Oliver Baumann after making a mess of an even better chance five minutes beforehand.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Champions League tie between Manchester City and Hoffenheim at the Etihad Stadium. The Citizens are already safely through to the last 16 of the competition, but they will still likely have to avoid defeat this evening if they are to go through as group winners ahead of already-qualified Lyon.
Hoffenheim can finish no higher than third, meanwhile, so they are holding out hope of landing a Europa League spot post-Christmas. For that to happen, the German visitors must pick up a shock victory against the English champions and hope that Shakhtar Donetsk - currently two points better off in third place - lose at home to Lyon in the other Group F match taking place tonight.
MANCHESTER CITY TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI: Ederson; Stones, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Foden, Bernardo; Sane, Jesus, Sterling
SUBS: Muric, Walker, Kompany, Delph, Mahrez, Diaz, Nmecha
Pep Guardiola complained on the eve of the match that he only had 15 fit players available to choose from, which perhaps explains why the Citizens' starting lineup is so strong tonight. As strange as that sounds, the Catalan coach is unable to rotate too heavily as he has a lack of replacements for the likes of Ederson, Aymeric Laporte and Raheem Sterling - three of six players to retain their place in the side from the loss to Chelsea.
UEFA have John Stones down to play at centre-back and Laporte to join Nicolas Otamendi in the heart of City's backline, but Laporte also has experience of filling in out wide. Oleksandr Zinchenko is given a rare run-out down the other flank, despite recently breaking his nose, and there is also a start in central midfield for the highly-regarded Phil Foden - his first in either the Premier League or Champions League this term.
Gabriel Jesus is another of those to be recalled from the loss at Stamford Bridge, having been left on the bench as Guardiola went without a recognised striker for that one. The Brazil international has just one goal in 13 Premier League appearances this season, but he has three in three on the continent thanks to his hat-trick against Shakhtar Donetsk last time out here. Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling will provide support from the wide positions.
HOFFENHEIM TEAM NEWS!
STARTING XI:Baumann; Adams, Hubner, Kaderabek; Brenet, Geiger, Grillitsch, Schulz; Kramaric, Bittencourt, Joelinton
SUBS: Nelson, Belfodil, Bicakcic, Zuber, Grifo, Kobel, Amiri
Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann has decided to leave Ishak Belfodil on the bench, despite the striker ending his six-match scoring draught with a strike in the 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg last weekend. Instead, the visitors line up in a 4-3-3 that consists of Andrej Kramaric, Leonardo Bittencourt and Joelinton in the forward line. Kramaric also scored against Wolfsburg, making it eight goals in his last eight games for club and country.
Nagelsmann makes six changes on the back of the 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg, seemingly prioritising the league following a disappointing run of results. That means that Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson is only among the subs this evening, as is the aforementioned Belfodil and Nadiem Amiri. It could be a busy 90 minutes for the Hoffenheim backline, meanwhile, so goalkeeper Oliver Baumann will need to be on top of his game.
Pep Guardiola makes five changes to Manchester City's starting lineup on the back of the disappointing 2-0 loss to Chelsea, bringing in Phil Foden for a first start in what is either a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3 formation. Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi are all included, so Stones will either fill in at full-back or the hosts will operate with two wing-backs. That will become clear shortly.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! Manchester City came from a goal behind to win 2-1 in the reverse meeting on matchday two in what was Hoffenheim's first-ever home match in the Champions League proper. David Silva, injured tonight, struck 87 minutes in at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena after Sergio Aguero - also out for this return match - had cancelled out Ishak Belfodil's early opener.
That was the one and only previous encounter between these two sides, though Man City have won six of their previous nine home matches against German opposition, scoring 11 in the last three. Hoffenheim, meanwhile, lost 6-3 on aggregate to Liverpool in the playoff round of the competition last year in their only previous fixture against a Premier League team.
Chelsea showed last weekend that Man City can indeed be beaten, inflicting a first domestic defeat on the champions this season and just a second loss in all competitions in 30 matches. That is a run spanning back to their quarter-final loss at the hands of Liverpool in last season's Champions League, which only marginally blemished their second campaign under Guardiola.
City went on to win the Premier League with a record number of points, adding to the EFL Cup secured a little earlier in the season, so 2017-18 was not all that bad despite their European disappointment. A failure to match their best-ever finish of a few years ago this time around, however, when making it to the semi-finals under Manuel Pellegrini, really would put a downer on their campaign.
The Citizens are not going to storm away with the title this time around, as they are currently second to Liverpool, one point adrift of the Reds after 16 matches. You would not bet against the Citizens going on to become the first English side to retain to title in a decade, but to do so by nearly 20 points again is surely out of the question - this Liverpool side is too strong for that to happen.
Goals from N'Golo Kante and David Luiz earned Chelsea their 2-0 win over City on Saturday - the first time that Guardiola's side have lost by two or more goals domestically since going down 4-0 to Everton in January 2017. While City have showed the ability to quickly bounce back from defeat in the past, there is now a little more pressure on them over the festive period as they cannot really afford to drop any points.
City also have a EFL Cup quarter-final against Leicester City to look forward to next week, so Guardiola will be keen to get his walking wounded back up to speed as soon as possible. The good news is that the task is as good as complete in the Champions League group stage; the bad news is that Guardiola is unable to really rotate all that much due to a number of injuries.
The Citizens recovered well from their unexpected 2-1 home loss on matchday one, going on to beat Hoffenheim late on in Germany before seeing off Shakhtar 3-0 and 6-0 in back-to-back matches. Then came a 2-2 draw in the reverse meeting with Lyon a fortnight ago, proving enough to nail down a top-two spot. Laporte and Aguero were on target that night after City twice fell behind at the Groupama Stadium.
Guardiola's men now simply have to avoid defeat on home soil this evening if they are to finish above Lyon in top spot. How much of an advantage that will be is not clear to see just yet, as City could still face the likes of Atletico Madrid, Ajax or Roma in the last 16 due to the fact that they cannot meet Manchester United, Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur. As Guardiola said, though, you always want to finish top of the pile.
Even if City suffered a second home defeat in Group F, they could still finish above Lyon if the French side fail to win away to Shakhtar to close the three-point gap. For the Citizens, this match is about rebuilding some momentum more than anything, having suffered that second loss in 30 matches against Chelsea four days ago. Defeat, on the other hand, and all of a sudden questions will be asked.
DID YOU KNOW? Manchester City have scored 45 goals in the Premier League this season - 10 more than any other side - and their 6-1 win over Southampton a month ago was the 12th time that they have notched five or more in a league match since Pep Guardiola arrived last year. To put that into some perspective, no other side has managed that more than eight times during the same period.
City have also scored 14 goals across their five Champions League matches in 2018-19, while conceding five times - half the number Lyon have let in. In fact, 42 goals have been scored in Group F overall with two matches still to play, which is just nine shy of the all-time record set in the same group two seasons ago.
Hoffenheim's debut Champions League campaign is drawing to a close and the best they can hope for is a third-placed finish. That would still be a decent achievement for Nagelsmann in his final campaign at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena before joining RB Leipzig, and for that to happen they need to pick up all three points in Manchester. That would double their Group F tally, which currently stands at three points from five matches.
Those three points have came from back-to-back draws with Lyon and a stalemate away to Shakhtar. If not for a couple of late Lyon goals in the home and away fixtures, it would have been Hoffenheim battling it out with Man City for top spot this evening. As it is, though, a late 3-2 loss against Shakhtar in Germany two weeks ago has left Die Kraichgauer facing an early exit.
Hoffenheim finished third in the Bundesliga last season, but they have not performed as well this time around. Three draws on the bounce leaves them down in seventh place, albeit just a few points off fourth. Including their loss to Shakhtar on the previous European matchday, Die Kraichgauer are now winless in their last four match since November 10. That run will surely only be extended this evening.
In Europe, they are stuck on one win from 13 matches home and away. Hoffenheim have both scored and conceded at least one goal in each of those games, with a combined 22 being scored at either end in their five Group F matches. Nagelsmann's side have just one clean sheet to their name all season, meanwhile, coming in a 4-0 win over Stuttgart at the end of October, doubling up as their biggest victory of the campaign.
Three defeats in their last nine European matches suggests that Hoffenheim will not be easy to shake off tonight, but at the same time they have never previously won an away match in Europe and a point just will not do. If you were wondering, Hoffenheim's last 0-0 draw was in May 2017, and a combined 82 goals have been scored and conceded in their 21 matches this season.
MANAGERS' COMMENTS!
Pep Guardiola: "I can't rotate too much. It's about trying to finish first to have an advantage in the last 16. That stage is always tough, but in general the next Monday when there is a draw it's a success we are there. Hoffenheim were incredible against Shakhtar Donetsk and they lost [3-2]. It was incredible and fascinating to watch as a spectator. My admiration for them has increased. I knew about Nagelsmann and his team, but now I realise how tough Wednesday will be."
Julian Nagelsmann: "Even as an optimist you'd say it was difficult. We have to be on top of our game. But we don't have a huge amount to lose. We can enjoy the game. Perhaps we can relax and play the football that got us to the Champions League. [Kramaric] has done a good job for his, which is also good for his parent club. He's very talented, good on one on ones. He's still got to learn and he has to maintain his levels but he's played a lot and will get time in the second half of the season."
It would have been interesting to see the team fielded by Guardiola tonight had he had more than 15 fit senior players to choose from, as he put it. The Citizens are through to the last 16 but still have a little work to do if they are to finish in top spot, yet even that would not be a huge advantage as they could still come up against Atletico Madrid, Roma or Ajax. Guardiola has been impressed by tonight's opponents on the continent, despite the German's being winless from their five matches.
As well as talking up the form of striker Kramaric, Hoffenheim boss Nagelsmann also described his side's hopes of claiming a Europa League spot as being "difficult". Instead, the competition proper's youngest-ever manager at 31 years and 58 days - 41 days younger than previous record holder Viktor Goncharenko - wants his players to "relax" and enjoy themselves. The visitors show six changes today, with the Bundesliga clearly taking priority.
As we saw at Anfield last night, kickoff has been delayed by a few minutes as UEFA are desperate for the teams to come out the tunnel at the same time as Lyon and Shakhtar Donetsk. Top spot is still to be sorted in Group F, while the Europa League place is also up for grabs heading into the final round of fixtures.
KICKOFF: After a slight delay, Manchester City get us up and running at the Etihad Stadium. Avoid defeat to Hoffenheim and the Citizens will finish top of Group F.
Brenet gets in a snapshot that is easily dealt with by Ederson. Confirmation that the visitors are going with a three-man backline tonight, while it appears to be a back four for the home side.
Sterling is caught in the ribs but referee Andreas Ekberg did not give the decision City's way for some reason. It's actually a back four for Hoffenheim and not a back three, as appeared to be the case in the first couple of minutes.
CLOSE! Grillitsch is the latest visiting player to get a shot away, coming on the back of some sloppy play from Foden in midfield. Schultz got in a cross from the left and Grillitsch's effort spun wide of the target.
Man City have not got going at all this evening. Hoffenheim are harrying their opponents and have looked the better side in the final third of the field.
A brilliant through-ball from Gundogan nearly had Foden clean through on goal, but his first touch was a little disappointing. The youngster teed up Sane, whose shot was blocked before it could reach the target.
SHOT! The home side are growing into the match now, winning themselves a corner which is headed away by Hubner. Hoffenheim counter and Bittencourt tees up Kramaric, who feeds the ball over the bar from 18 yards.
SAVE! A first save of the evening for Baumann to make in the Hoffenheim goal. Gundogan set himself up for the shot after being picked out by Foden, but his effort from 20 yards was struck right down the middle.
PENALTY! Referee Andreas Ekberg points to the spot after Laporte grabbed hold of Brenet in the box - should it have been a red card, too? Moments before that, Kramaric's curler was tipped over the crossbar by Ederson.
GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 0-1 HOFFENHEIM (ANDREJ KRAMARIC, PEN)
For the fourth time in six Group F matches, Man City fall behind. Kramaric sends the penalty down the middle, catching out Ederson who went to his right. Poor defending from Laporte to give that penalty away.
STAT! Andrej Kramaric has scored five of Hoffenheim's 11 goals in the Champions League this season. The Croatian striker has also now netted in each of his last nine matches for club and country - talk about being in form!
OFF THE POST! Jesus somehow gets his head to a cross five yards from goal, but can only guide it against the post. Stones then got the run on his men and nodded down the middle at Baumann. A big chance for City, who can consider themselves fortunate to still have a full complement of players.
Man City have finally managed to wake up, no doubt helped by the shock of falling behind. They have made a habit of doing things the hard way in Group F, and they are at risk of finishing in second place if it remains this way.
I should give Baumann a little more credit for the save on Stones' header. It was a decent attempt from the defender and Baumann had to react to keep it out, even if it was pretty central. Jesus is showing some good movement, but it is not quite falling for him at the moment.
GROUP F UPDATE! Moraes has given Shakhtar Donetsk the lead against Lyon in Kiev, changing the complexion on the group. It is now Shakhtar, and not Lyon, who will be going through with Man City to the last 16.
The match has gone a little quiet over the last five minutes or so. Man City have been the better side since Kramaric opened the scoring from the penalty spot, finally waking up after a slow start to the contest.
Frustration is just starting to creed into Man City's game now as we pass the half-hour mark. A third of the game played and the home side, for the fourth time this season, find themselves behind in the Champions League.
Hoffenheim are making things incredible difficult for the English champions. The visitors have put all 11 players behind the ball and City need to find a way through without their key creative midfield forces on the field.
OFF THE BAR! Incredible! Man City are denied by the woodwork for the second time tonight, but quite how this one stayed out I'm no sure. Otamendi flicked on Gundogan's set-piece and the ball cannoned off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared.
Sterling goes around the outside of Schulz but sends his cross into the welcoming hands of Baumann. City are probing away and do look dangerous, but Hoffenheim have so far done enough to keep hold of their one-goal lead.
Jesus requires some treatment on his ankle after being wiped out by Nuhu. Guardiola will be praying that the Brazilian is OK to continue as he really is light on options in that area of the field.
Sterling picks out Foden on the edge of the box and the youngster, after setting himself, drills in a shot that hit Geiger in front of goal. Sterling will probably regret not taking that on himself. Jesus is back on the field, incidentally.
It is turning into a frustrating night for Manchester City, who now have a little over 45 minutes to turn this one around. The hosts are the team on top, but Hoffenheim are not afraid to get forward on the counter when the opportunity arises.
A poor challenge from Hubner on Sterling goes unpunished in terms of a card, but a free kick is at least awarded. Gundogan, Zinchenko and Sane are all standing over it...
GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 HOFFENHEIM (LEROY SANE)
Good luck finding a free kick struck as sweetly as this in this season's Champions League! An unbelievable strike from Sane, who gets a perfect blend of power and precision on his long-range attempt. City are level at half time.
HALF TIME: MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 HOFFENHEIM
Leroy Sane's sweetly-struck free kick has Manchester City on level terms at the interval, cancelling out a penalty from Andrej Kramaric 16 minutes in. The Citizens twice hit the frame of the goal before finally finding a way through to set up what should be an entertaining second half.
Needing a victory of their own and a helping hand from Lyon against Shakhtar Donetsk, Hoffenheim started the brighter of the sides as Joshua Brenet and Florian Grillitsch both fired in shots early on. The hosts then made their spell on top count as, following shots on target from Andrej Kramaric and Leroy Sane at either end, referee Andreas Ekberg pointed to the spot for Aymeric Laporte's grapple on Brenet.
Kramaric sent the resulting penalty down the middle to score for a ninth match running, but City could perhaps consider themselves fortunate to still have a full complement of players. The goal did at least act as a wake-up call for the sluggish hosts, with Gabriel Jesus guiding a header against the inside of the post and Nicolas Otamendi glancing Ilkay Gundogan's free kick against the crossbar.
Oliver Baumann was also required to keep out makeshift full-back John Stones, but the City leveller would arrive on the brink of half time through a glorious Sane goal. The German attacker got the perfect blend of dip, power and accuracy on his free kick, sending the ball flying past Baumann 30 yards out from the final meaningful act of the first half.
BENCH WATCH!
MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: Muric, Walker, Kompany, Delph, Mahrez, Diaz, Nmecha
HOFFENHEIM SUBS: Nelson, Belfodil, Bicakcic, Zuber, Grifo, Kobel, Amiri
KICKOFF: We are back underway at the Etihad Stadium, where there is news of a couple of changes. Kyle Walker is on for John Stones and Reiss Nelson has replaced Joshua Brenet as both managers turn to their bench.
Foden is unable to get a cross into the box, forcing him to go back to Zinchenko, who lost the ball within seconds of getting it. Foden had a few words to say to his teammate.
STATS! Hoffenheim have scored and conceded in all 14 of their games in all European competitions. Leroy Sane, meanwhile, is the first Man City player to score a direct free-kick goal in the Champions League since Kevin De Bruyne against Barcelona in October 2016.
Baumann makes a good save to keep out Laporte at the back post and then again from the follow-up, but the corner had curled out of play beforehand. That would have been a controversial one had Baumann not made the double save.
Joelinton powers past Walker down the left and blasts the ball towards the front post, forcing Ederson to slap it behind. A lively start to the second period, with both teams clearly looking to score the game's third goal.
SAVE! Hoffenheim are giving this a real go, it must be said. The German's need all three points to have any chance of finishing third in Group F. Jesus nearly edged City in front, but his shot from a tight angle is kept out by Baumann.
CHANCE! City make a real mess of this. A corner is cleared and Sterling has 60 yards to run into, with two men over. He squares it to one of them, but Sane then passed to Bernardo rather than slotting it past Baumann, giving the keeper enough time to set himself for the save.
Unbelievable how open this game is. Sterling picked up the ball inside his own half and had more than half the pitch to run into from that last chance - when have you ever seen that this early in a match?! Sterling gets a shot away which curls away from goal.
SAVE! And just like that, Hoffenheim could quite easily have been back in front. Reiss Nelson is through but the angle is against him, and the Arsenal loanee's low shot is blocked by the legs of Ederson.
GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 2-1 HOFFENHEIM (LEROY SANE)
Having made a real mess of their last breakaway chance, City have clearly learned. Sterling and Sane exchanged passes and the latter had just Baumann to beat, doing exactly that with his powerful finish from close range.
SUBS! Nagelsmann's side can consider themselves a little unfortunate, as they have more than held their own this evening - even if they have given away some big chances. On comes Delph for Zinchenko and Amiri for Geiger.
YELLOW CARD! Hoffenheim's players are fuming as the free kick is awarded for a challenge on Jesus - it looked to be the right call to me. Grillitsch is shown a yellow card by the referee amid the protests.
GROUP F UPDATE! Gundogan clips the roof of the goal from the subsequent free kick. Nabil Fekir has just equalised for Lyon against Shakhtar, so Lyon move back up to second place behind Man City.
HOFFENHEIM SUB! Foden sends a shot narrowly over the target from a good position. Belfodil is now on for Bittencourt as Nagelsmann makes his third and final change of the evening. This is a gripping contest.
Delph, on the field for less than 10 minutes, blasts well over the crossbar when teed up by Sane 20 yards from goal. The Citizens are a joy to watch when in the mood, but they could do with a third goal here to kill off the tie.
SAVE! City are seeing plenty of the ball now and look to be closing in on a third goal, which should kill things off. Foden with a brilliant volley, which Baumann - Hoffenheim's best player tonight - tips over the crossbar.
YELLOW CARD! Sterling uses his pace to get away from Joelinton, who had little choice but to take a swipe at the City winger to stop him in his tracks. A little under 15 minutes to go here and, while City are comfortable at the moment, it is far from game over.
Hoffenheim are not looking anywhere near as threatening as they did in the first hour or so of the match - City's second goal all but killed off their hopes of finishing third in Group F. The Citizens are cruising through as group winners.
Fourteen attempts in this second half for City, the most recent of which came via the boot of Foden five minutes ago. Sterling fails to keep the ball in play and what looked to be a promising situation comes to a disappointing end.
The visitors win a free kick, which is sent into the box but easily dealt with by the visitors. The ball does come back in, though, and City were grateful to see the offside flag go up on the far side. Still time for the Germans to snatch something.
CLOSE! Sterling really should have been burying this. Foden pops up on the right and picks out an unmarked Sterling in the middle, but the England international's shot spins wide of the target. Guardiola appears ready to make another change.
MANCHESTER CITY SUB! Kompany is brought on for Bernardo for the final stages of the match, as City look to protect this slender lead. The Belgian centre-back takes over captaincy duties from Otamendi alongside him.
SAVE! Another save for Baumann to make, this time getting down to his left to keep out a rather tame effort from Jesus. Quite telling that the Brazilian has been kept on the pitch - Guardiola is desperate for the striker to find the net.
Hoffenheim still posing a threat late on here as Nelson sends in a cross that deflects into the side-netting for a corner. Nelson takes the corner and City clear it away for another counter, which comes to a disappointing end as Baumann races out to collect an overhit pass.
City have played some good football tonight, but it has not exactly been straightforward for them. In fact, with just seconds of extra time to play Hoffenheim win themselves a corner, which frustratingly comes to nothing.
FULL TIME: MANCHESTER CITY 2-1 HOFFENHEIM
Referee Andreas Ekberg brings the game to a close, meaning that Manchester City finish as comfortable winners of Group F. The Citizens did not even require a point in the end as Lyon were held by Shakhtar Donetsk elsewhere, but Leroy Sane's double to cancel out Andrej Kramaric's penalty opener does at least mean that mean that the Citizens are back to winning ways following their loss to Chelsea at the weekend.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events from the Etihad Stadium. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, and be sure to join us again tomorrow for updates from the Europa League games involving Arsenal and Chelsea. See you then!
