Pep Guardiola had the opportunity to rotate for this game after the comfortable manner in which City won the first leg, thrashing their Swiss opponents 4-0.
City travel to Stoke City on Monday night with an opportunity to march closer to a first Premier League title under the Spanish boss.
Prior to the game, Guardiola stated that injured duo Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling could be in contention for that trip to the Potters on Monday night but would likely miss the Basel tie. Indeed, they missed out.
Despite opting to rest key names like Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Nicolas Otamendi, Guardiola still names a strong side to compete against Basel.
John Stones, Yaya Toure and Leroy Sane were named in the starting line-up as Guardiola looks to avoid an incredible upset.
It would take Basel putting four past a City side that have conceded just 20 in 29 league games this season to square the tie, and that’s assuming the free-scoring Citizens don’t manage to find the net themselves.
For the Swiss side, it’s mostly about restoring the pride that was severely crushed on their own ground three weeks ago.
Their focus has shifted back to the league where they sit in second, albeit 14 points off leaders Young Boys with two games in hand.
Basel still named key players like Serey Die, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Dimitri Oberlin as they look to overcome an almost insurmountable four-goal deficit at the Etihad Stadium.
Team News
Manchester City: Bravo, Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Gündogan, Yaya Touré (C), Bernardo, Foden, Sané, Jesus
Manchester City Subs: Ederson, Walker, Agüero, De Bruyne, Adarabioyo, Otamendi, Diaz
FC Basel: Vaclik, Suchy, Frei, Lacroix, Lang, Serey Die, Zuggi, Riveros Galeano, Elyounoussi, Bua, Oberlin
FC Basel Subs: Kaiser, Petretta, Manzambi, Ajeti, Stocker, Salvi, Van Wolfswinkel