Good evening everyone! Can Manchester City join Leicester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League group stage? Standing in their way is Steaua Bucharest and they begin the campaign in Romania this evening. Easy passage or potential upset?

Pep Guardiola kicked his reign off with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at the weekend. City are almost guaranteed to challenge for the Premier League title, but he knows the pressure is on to deliver success in Europe. After three semi-final exits with Bayern Munich, can he come close to lifting the trophy he won twice with Barcelona?

BREAKING NEWS: It's more disappointment for Joe Hart tonight as Guardiola once again decides to leave the England goalkeeper on the bench. With reports that Claudio Bravo is on his way to Man City, Hart's days could be numbered. Full team news to follow.

Manchester City: Caballero; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva, Nolito, Sterling; Aguero
Subs: Hart, Sagna, Fernando, Navas, Delph, Clichy, Iheanacho

Guardiola makes a couple of changes following Saturday's win over Sunderland. Nicolas Otamendi returns from injury and Pablo Zabaleta also earns a start at the back as Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy both drop out of the side. John Stones is handed his Champions League debut, while Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne are all among the starters.

24 - Joe Hart had started Manchester City's previous 24 European games before tonight (Pantillimon v CSKA Moscow in Nov 2013). Bench.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 16, 2016

Steaua: Niță, Tamaş, Hamroun, Stanciu, Muniru Sulley, Toşca, Golubović, Momčilović, Enache, Popa
Subs: Cojocaru, Mitrea, Tudorie, Aganovic, Ov Popescu, D Popescu, Bourceanu

Another player who misses out tonight for City is Yaya Toure, who was left out of the squad at the weekend, too. He has made such a huge impact on the club over the years, but it appears that Guardiola may not have the Ivorian in his plans. The revolution may have begun.

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Hart and Toure may be struggling to impress Guardiola at the moment, but the strength of this City side is quite frightening. De Bruyne and Silva are being trusted to get on the ball in deeper positions, which gives City attacking options all over the pitch. Summer signings Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane are still not ready to be involved, so there will be more than a few headaches for Guardiola this season.

Steaua have won all 3 league matches this term... Can the 1986 European champions upset @ManCity tonight? #UCL pic.twitter.com/CREqp4dT3O — Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 16, 2016

City are huge favourites to progress, but that seems to be having no effect on the confidence of Steaua boss Laurentius Reghecampf, who is backing his side to rise to the challenge over the two legs.

"Even if we face a big team, even if we face the best coach in the world with fantastic results, it is a huge chance for us to prove ourselves,' he told reporters. "I am very confident that we will qualify for the group stage again."

"We are going to try to score goals and try to convince the players how important it is to play in the Champions League and how beautiful it is and we are going to try and win it," Guardiola, who has reached the semi-finals in each of the seven seasons he has coached in the competition, told reporters in his pre-match press conference.

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Guardiola spent three years at Bayern Munich without reaching the final of the Champions League. Some in Germany believe he failed as a result of that fact, despite all of his domestic success with the club. The pressure is certainly on him to turn City into a European powerhouse. They have the finances, infrastructure and talent to match the best sides around. Have they now found the right coach?

25 minutes to go! Who's excited for the match? 🙌 #steauavcity #mcfc pic.twitter.com/qmnOd7oxzk — Manchester City (@ManCity) August 16, 2016

PREDICTION: It's that time, folks! Steaua are sure to make life difficult for City early on, but I just can't see the hosts keeping out Guardiola's attacking talent this evening. City will be desperate for at least one away goal and I'm backing them to claim a 2-0 win.

Steaua's 18 games against English clubs have ended W5 D4 L9 (W5 D2 L2 at home – W0 D2 L7 in England). If the away record is anything to go by, Reghecampf's side really need a result in front of their own fans tonight.

Kickoff is less than 10 minutes away in Romania. A heads up to all of you who are interested, Daniele Orsato leads a team of Italian officials this evening.

Joe Hart has dominated the pre-game news tonight, but can Willy Caballero impress in goal? With interest reported in Claudio Bravo, it could be a huge night for him too.

Both sides are out on the pitch and we have just a few handshakes to get out of the way before the action begins.

KICKOFF: We're underway! Guardiola looking relaxed as Steaua attempt to make a fast start.

CLOSE! Steaua are inches away from taking the lead. Fernandinho loses the ball in midfield and Stancu capitalises before pulling the trigger from close to 30 yards. Caballero can only watch as the ball drifts just wide of the top corner.

Zabaleta is into the book early when he catches Muniru Sulley with a high tackle. The City skipper must be careful now.

First sight of goal for the visitors, with Nolito sending a weak effort straight at Nita after Aguero had failed to find an opening.

PENALTY! City have a penalty. De Bruyne takes a short corner to Sterling in the box and the England international shifts the ball past Sulley, who can't help but bring him down. Dreadful defending but an easy decision for the referee.

MISSED! Aguero fails from 12 yards as Nita guesses the right way to get two hands on the penalty. Nolito should probably score the rebound but he can only strike the crossbar. Incredible start to this game in Romania.

Excellent football on display from the visitors as Nolito drifts in from the left, but Aguero is just offside after receiving a pass from the Spaniard. Worrying signs for Steaua.

City move the ball in midfield quickly before a poor touch from Silva inadvertently sets up Aguero, who can only send his shot over.

Just a few minutes after that penalty miss, Silva ensures it is indeed an excellent start for City in Romania. The visitors press high up the pitch and Sterling benefits by sprinting clear of Tosca, who is then beaten again by the England international's superb turn in the box. Sterling shows the composure to pick the right pass and Silva fires in a fine low effort.

Steaua were looking to be positive in possession but they must be wary of giving the ball away too often tonight. With the attacking talent on show, City will punish mistakes. Guardiola is off the bench shouting orders at his players.

Hart is reportedly out of the side due to his apparent lack of quality with the ball at his feet, but Caballero has just misplaced a pass for what must be the third time tonight. Not the most confident of starts from the goalkeeper.

PENALTY! Another penalty given to the visitors! It's Zabaleta who storms through midfield before finding Kolarov, who pulls the ball back and goes down under a foolish tackle from Tamas. It's Aguero who will step up again...

MISSED! Incredible. I can't believe what I'm seeing tonight. Aguero, one of the best strikers around, misses a second penalty as he sends the ball sailing over the crossbar. I wouldn't be surprised if he's off penalty duties for a while!

Steaua look to be in big trouble as City just keep on attacking numbers. Kolarov is not far away on this occasion as his deflected effort drifts over the crossbar.

Aguero makes a clever run to receive Silva's chipped pass, but no one is in the box to capitalise on his low cross. Despite relieving the pressure for a few moments, Steaua just can't seem to keep the ball now as De Bruyne tracks back to retrieve possession.

Superb footwork on show from the lively Nolito as he dodges a couple of challenges in the box, before Silva eventually settles for finding De Bruyne, who drags an effort wide from the edge of the box.

SAVE! Steaua should probably be level. Popa leads the break with a brilliant run on the right wing before shifting the ball to Stanciu, whose first-time pass sets up Hamroun but Caballero closes the angle to block the weak effort.

It's easy to see why a Guardiola side is so difficult to face. Zabaleta is tucking in to fill the midfield at times and an extra body in that area means that the visitors always seem to have another option in possession. Steaua are steadily improving, though, as Tamas wins a free kick for the hosts.

Steaua waste the opportunity from the free kick and City survive a spell on the back foot. Can the home side hit back before the break?

Kolarov is forced to send the ball into the stands when Stanciu clips the ball over the City defence. There's definitely been a few more questions for the visitors to answer in the past few minutes.

OFF THE BAR! It's nearly a brilliant second goal as Kolarov meets Silva's corner at the front post, but the left-back can only hit the crossbar with his volley.

SAVE! Sterling continues to find space in the box as he drifts inside from the right, with Nita forced to tip his shot over the crossbar. De Bruyne then fires wide when the corner is only half cleared. Steaua hanging on again.

What a goal! Silva chips a ball to Sterling, who shows brilliant awareness to find the roaming Aguero with an excellent touch on the edge of the box. Aguero shrugs off the two penalty misses with a quiet magnificent finish to find the bottom corner.

Popa sends a warning to the visitors with a powerful strike from the edge of the box, but Caballero pushes the ball to safety to protect the two-goal lead.

Man City could have been four or five goals ahead had Aguero been more lethal from the penalty spot, but they are in complete control of this game and tie thanks to those two away goals. Steaua have a huge mountain to climb as they look to launch an attack from midfield before the break.

Guardiola's side take a two-goal lead into the break in Romania. It's been a dramatic start to this tie with Aguero missing two penalties, before eventually finding the net after Silva had opened the scoring. It really is difficult to see a way back for Steaua.

Three assists in two games for @sterling7 under Pep Guardiola 💪 #UCL pic.twitter.com/ZRMe8NsoKi — Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 16, 2016

I just wonder whether Guardiola will turn to the bench early in the second half. City will continue to attack as frequently as possible, but the introduction of Fernando or Fabian Delph could add some steel to the midfield which might just halt Steaua's counter-attacks.

KICKOFF! Two changes for the visitors at the break as Alexandru Tudor and Alexandru Bourceanu come on for Achim and Golubovic. Can the substitutes make a difference?

Stanciu has probably been the pick of the Steaua players so far this evening and the skipper sends a low effort into the side netting from a tight angle as the hosts make a bright start to the second half.

City are cruising in Romania! De Bruyne produces some magic under pressure as he clips a clever ball to Nolito, who avoids drifting offside before rounding Nita to convert his first goal for the club.

You would think the instructions have come from Reghecampf, but Steaua seem to be the makers of their own downfall as they continue to leave four players in attack. City almost capitalise as Nolito clips the outside of the post from a tight angle.

In case you didn't know this already, Kevin De Bruyne is rather good. He delivers the perfect pass to release Aguero, who brings the ball down before powering an effort just past the near post. Kolarov picks up a yellow card moments later after catching his marker with an arm to the face.

It is quite remarkable how much space Silva and De Bruyne are finding tonight. Playing slightly deeper seems to be benefit both players as they continue to control this game with apparent ease.

YELLOW CARD! Tudorie is punished with a yellow card after catching Zabaleta with a late challenge on the halfway line.

YELLOW CARD! Dreadful defending from Tosca as he flies into a tackle on Sterling, who is simply too quick as the Steaua full-back picks up a booking.

Excellent football on show as the influential De Bruyne drifts out wide to deliver a low cross towards Aguero, whose flick is easily stopped by Nita on this occasion.

Silva seeing plenty of the ball in midfield as City continue to look in complete control. Can Steaua claim anything from what is becoming a very tough night?

A corner reaches Sulley on the edge of the box when City fail to clear, but the Ghanaian can only miscue his volley. He is then removed as Ovidio Popescu comes on for the hosts.

SUB! Guardiola makes his first change of the night following a quiet spell in the game as Bacary Sagna replaces Zabaleta.

Guardiola is crouched down in disappointment following a fantastic move from the visitors. De Bruyne, Sterling and Silva are all involved in a long spell of possession, but the latter hesitates in the box and the attack eventually breaks down.

SUB! After changing the full-backs for tonight's game, Guardiola has two new faces there now as Clichy comes on to replace Kolarov.

CHANCE! Steaua are all over the place as some poor play on the ball results in Aguero breaking free before forcing Nita into a fine save. City keep the pressure on, with Silva eventually curling over from just inside the box. The visitors have been excellent going forward.

Wow! This is pretty special from City. Nita manages to deny Aguero once again but Guardiola's side keep the pressure on to score a fantastic fourth goal. De Bruyne, Nolito and Aguero produce some brilliant one-touch football just outside the area. Nolito is the one to find Aguero, who allows the ball to run across him before firing home a low effort. Steaua have no answer for that kind of quality.

SAVE! Nita stands with hands on hips after being forced into action again. Excellent build up play once again from City as Sagna pulls the ball back to Nolito, whose strike is pushed to safety by the Steaua goalkeeper.

Nolito produces a fine piece of control to nip the ball past Tamas, who picks up a yellow card for a blatant foul. Otamendi fails to make the desired connection with a header from the free kick as City continue to look dangerous.

On a night when he has twice failed to convert from the penalty spot, Aguero helps himself to a hat-trick. A dominant display continues as the Argentine times his run to perfection to sprint clear of the defence before firing home off the inside of the post. Just two minutes of added time for Steaua to endure.

It's all over in Romania. Next week's second leg at the Etihad Stadium will be just a formality following a brilliant attacking performance from Man City. Aguero missed two penalties before netting a hat-trick, with goals from Silva and Nolito adding to an excellent night for Guardiola's side.

Our live text coverage comes to an end, but make sure you keep an eye out for the match report and reaction from this emphatic triumph for City. Guardiola and his players are cruising through to the group stage of the Champions League. Goodnight everyone!