Manchester City vs Hoffenheim as it happened: City top come from behind to top Champions League group

Follow all of the latest from the Etihad Stadium

Man City v Hoffenheim: Champions League match preview

Leroy Sane struck twice as Manchester City came from behind to secure top spot in Champions League Group F with a 2-1 win over Hoffenheim.

Sane cancelled out former Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric's early penalty with a stunning free-kick just before half time and grabbed his second on the hour.

City also hit the woodwork twice as they created numerous chances after making a sluggish start.

Pep Guardiola's side, who gave valuable experience to 18-year-old Phil Foden, dominated the second half and Sane could have had a hat-trick had he not passed up another shooting chance.

Key Points

• Man City XI: Ederson; Stones, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Foden, Bernardo; Sane, Sterling, Jesus
• Hoffenheim XI: Baumann; Geiger, Nuhu, Hubner; Kaderabek, Grillitsch, Bittencourt, Schulz; Brenet, Kramaric, Joelinton

[12 December 2018 15:46 · Jack Watson]

Welcome!

Good evening and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of tonight's Champions League football.

We'll have live coverage of Valencia vs Manchester United and Manchester City vs Hoffenheim as well as goal updates from Young Boys vs Juventus.

Stay tuned for all the build-up, which begins with team news from around 18:45 GMT

How about a bit of United's 1999 side to get you in the mood

[12 December 2018 17:17 · Jack Watson]

The special Juan

[12 December 2018 18:48 · Jack Watson]

Team news

[12 December 2018 18:50 · Nathan Jacobs]

Meanwhile, the Blue side of Manchester, who face Hoffenheim this evening line up as follows: 

Can they come back after their first defeat of the season against Chelsea?

[12 December 2018 18:57 · Nathan Jacobs]

And how do we rate United's chances tonight?

If they are victorious this evening and Juventus drop points at Young Boys then the Red Devils will finish 1st in the group. 

This​ is how Valencia​ line up attempting to stop them:​

[12 December 2018 19:01 · Nathan Jacobs]

  ↵Will City have it easy tonight?

Hoffenheim put up stern resistance a few weeks ago in Germany, with David Silva rescuing the Citizens late on in the game. 

Here's how they line up this evening: 

[12 December 2018 19:21 · Nathan Jacobs]

Away from the later games this evening, some interesting updates from Group G's early kick offs coming through. 

Real Madrid are 2-0 down, AT HOME, against Cska Moscow. 

They've already lost to the Russian side in the group but look like they might do so again. Cska WOULD become the first team to beat Real twice in the group stages without progressing. 

[12 December 2018 19:22 · Nathan Jacobs]

Don't put your money on them getting back in this, folks... 

​

[12 December 2018 19:26 · Nathan Jacobs]

THREE. NIL. CSKA. 

THREE. 

3-0. 

CSKA celebrating.. 

[12 December 2018 19:27 · Nathan Jacobs]

Incredibly enough, with Plzen currently beating Roma, CSKA are going out of European football altogether, despite being on the precipice of beating the champions home and away! 

It's a crazy game.