Oleksandr Zinchenko must have been delighted when Manchester City were drawn to play his former club Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League group stage.

It gave the 21-year-old an opportunity to return to his native Ukraine and he was keen to play in front of his friends and family, buying 27 tickets for his nearest and dearest to take in the action on Tuesday night.

You can imagine his despair then when manager Pep Guardiola chose not to name him in City's match day squad for the Group F clash at the Metalist Stadium.

Oleksandr Zinchenko bought 27 tickets for City's Shakhtar Donetsk game only to be left out

An attacking midfielder by trade, Zinchenko has been deployed by City as an option at left-back due to the vast array of talent they have in offensive positions.

Injuries to Benjamin Mendy gave the left-footer a chance to deputise for Fabian Delph for large parts of last season but he has failed to rack up the minutes this campaign following the Frenchman's return to fitness.

Zinchenko even carried out City's pre-match media duties, taking part in the club's mandatory press conference alongside Guardiola on Monday.

The manager seemed right to leave out Zinchenko, who represented Shakhtar at youth team level from 2009 to 2014, as City eased to a comfortable 3-0 win.

Zinchenko during a training session on Monday has struggled for playing time this season

After a first-half barrage, City finally managed to break the deadlock through David Silva. Aymeric Laporte and Bernardo Silva also found the back of the net as the reigning Premier League champions moved to the top of Group F.

Fans took to Twitter after Zinchenko's exclusion had been announced to poke fun at his wastefulness in purchasing the tickets.

'At least he can sit with them!', quipped @Barsalev.

@blaircwash joked: 'I guess 26 of those tickets are for family and friends.'