Pep Guardiola says the time is right to hand Stefan Ortega his debut as Manchester City take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
City have already booked their place in the last-16 of the Champions League and can top Group G with a point in Dortmund, although the hosts can also guarantee a place in the knockout stages on Tuesday night with a win.
Guardiola named a strong side in Dortmund to ensure next week's home fixture with Sevilla has nothing riding on it, but still made a number of changes including Ederson dropping to the bench in place of Ortega, along with Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte and Manuel Akanji.
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Speaking to BT Sport, Guardiola confirmed Ederson was not injured, and simply said he wanted to reward Ortega with his competitive debut for the club with City safely through to the last-16.
"He has to play. I decide, okay, he's going to play," Guardiola said. "No [Ederson's not injured], I decide for Stefan today."
Guardiola also addressed City's tactics, especially in stopping Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, who has scored in every Champions League game so far this season.
"It's not easy. First because they are good, well-organised with the ball," Guardiola explained. "They have the patience to do it. We are going to try to break inside, outside. It depends on the movements. Find the positions between the lines.
"Attack in the transitions of course they are good, with Reyna upfront. It's the fourth time we play them in two or three years, same manager. We expect quite similar and I'm sure they expect quite similar what we have done.
"We have to play better than them, don't let [Bellingham] be involved in the game. In the transitions, final third he is good arriving in the box. Try to do our game, the best way to neutralise our opponents is to be good as a team."
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