Handed his first Champions League start, Iliman Ndiaye provided an assist in Manchester City’s 3-2 win at RB Leipzig on Wednesday 4 November 2026.
Some debuts go better than others. On Wednesday 4 November 2026, on the pitch at RB Leipzig, Iliman Ndiaye made his first Champions League start: the Senegal international winger played on the left flank, according to BBC Sport. Manchester City won the match 3-2, reports the English club’s official website.
Ndiaye made his mark. Just before the hour mark, he delivered a perfect cross for the head of Enzo Fernández, City’s midfielder and scorer of his side’s second goal. The kind of delivery that gets noticed.
A 7/10 rating to make his case
BBC Sport did not merely note the Senegalese player’s start: it gave him a rating of 7/10 at the end of the game. The British outlet above all highlighted the quality of the cross sent “to the millimetre” for Fernández’s header.
Because Manchester City did not have an easy night on German soil. In a five-goal game, Ndiaye’s contribution carries extra weight: he was directly involved in one of his team’s goals.
Lukeba own goal, Haaland decides it
The opening goal had come earlier, in the 37th minute: a cross from Nico O’Reilly was deflected into his own net by Castello Lukeba, giving City the lead before half-time, according to the club’s official website. The second goal therefore owes a great deal to Ndiaye, who delivered the cross, and to Enzo Fernández’s finish.
City then still had to make the difference. Erling Haaland scored the winning goal about ten minutes from time, his 13th career goal against Leipzig, from an Elliot Anderson pass. That goal sealed the final 3-2 scoreline.
A place to confirm
For the international winger, this Champions League start looks like a starting point. Manchester City must now build momentum, in the Champions League as in the Premier League, and the staff will have the chance to judge whether the Senegalese player’s performance was a one-off flourish or the beginning of a lasting place in the starting XI. The next line-ups will tell whether Ndiaye has made himself indispensable on the left flank.
The club, in any case, published a match gallery on its official website.