Europa League preview: Manchester City v Juventus
Now this is surely more like it isn’t it Sheikh Mansour?
A glamorous European night, aristocratic opponents and – above all – a real opportunity for victory, these are the kind of fixtures that the sheikh must have imagined were just around the corner when he bought Manchester City just over two years ago. Hundreds of millions of pounds later, they are taking on the world-famous Juventus and they’re heavy favourites.
There are contributory factors of course, the most telling being that The Old Lady of Italian football are looking a little frail at the moment.
Ninth in the fledgling Serie A table, an error-prone Juve stuttered to a 3-3 draw with supposed Group A doormats Lech Poznan last time out, and come to Eastlands with the knowledge that a defeat would make City the firm favourites to win the group.
Boss Luigi Del Neri would have been buoyed by the weekend’s 4-2 victory over Cagliari in Turin – where big summer signing Miloš Krasić shone with a hat-trick, his first goals for the club – but he’ll know that this presents a much sterner task, not that he doesn’t have the personnel with which to tackle it.
Talented players such as Giorgio Chiellini, Felipe Melo, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Claudio Marchisio, Krasić and the former Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko feature heavily in this side, which still includes one of the legends of the modern game, one who remains a profound man.
“Amid the clichés that are so popular in the football world,” said Alessandro Del Piero, the 35-year-old Juventus captain and icon, “there is one that says we mustn’t get too excited by victories or too depressed by defeat.
“I believe there is some truth in these words, and now we have no intention of stopping after the wonderful win over Cagliari. It starts on Thursday in Manchester. In my mind I am already there.”
He may be there in his mind, and he’s still there in body too, as age hasn’t yet diminished his obvious quality – one look at his outstanding goal against Lech Poznan two weeks ago shows that.
City will have to watch him closely, but they will be looking to get on the front foot in what looks to be a winnable match for them, not that their Italian boss – a boyhood Juventus fan – thinks it will be easy.
“I have great respect for Juventus because they are a part of the history of football and one of the best teams in Europe,” said Roberto Mancini, one of the greatest strikers the Italian game has ever seen.
“I played against Juve all my life, and supported them as a young guy, but it is not a special game for me. I want it to become a habit for us to be playing Italian squads, hopefully in the Champions League next year.”
So surely knowing all about Juve will give Mancini and City a helping hand tonight then?
“Yes, I know Juventus very well,” continued the boss, “but I also know very well Wolverhampton!”
After beating Chelsea at the weekend, City will be confident whomever they face, be they from the Midlands or Turin, and so the boss is ready to field a strong line-up here, and isn’t tempted to rest players ahead of a league clash with those other black-and-whites, Newcastle United, on Sunday afternoon.
“Because we play the Europa League on Thursday nights we have only two days and two nights to recover, but I always put out the strongest team that I can,” he continued.
“It was different in the Carling Cup, but now I can change two or three players. I've got more options. But I always want to put the best team on the pitch. I hope we can do a good job against Juventus and Newcastle.”
It is the first part of that “good job” that is likely to be the most memorable, and as City continue to make giant strides in their bid to be recognised as a continental force, a victory over European giants is sure to make people sit up and take notice.
More so than a win over Wolves would do anyway.
Prediction: Manchester City 2 Juventus 1
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