Manchester City land Juventus in Europa League draw
Manchester City have been handed a tricky challenge in the UEFA Europa League after they were drawn against Serie A giants Juventus.
As well as the Italian outfit, manager Roberto Mancini and his men will have to contend with Austrian club Salzburg and Polish side Lech Poznan.
City’s summer signing Mario Balotelli has unkind memories of having faced Juventus as he was the subject of racist abuse during his time at Inter Milan. Last season, Juve banned a number of supporters after they hurled verbal taunts towards Balotelli, who is of Ghanian descent, while two years ago, the club was forced to play a home game without any fans being allowed into the stadium.
City’s head of football administration Brian Marwood told reporters after the draw that: "Mario, like all of our players, I'm sure, will be relishing the opportunity. He's a young man with an incredibly bright future ahead of him and we will give him every support and help that he needs. We will leave it to the authorities to deal with anything that happens but we are not anticipating any issue."
Meanwhile, EPL club Liverpool have also been handed a tough group after being drawn against Steaua Bucharest of Romania, Napoli of Italy and Dutch side Utrecht — who defeated Scottish Premier League giants Celtic at the play-off stage.
Reds manager Roy Hogdson told his club’s official website he was satisfied with the draw. He said that: "I think it's quite good but obviously there are no easy games at this stage of the competition. It's very much like the Champions League these days and when you get to the group stages they are all pretty good teams in there, but I am satisfied we have avoided maybe some of the least pleasant journeys."
The group stage matches begin on September 16, and the top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout stages were they will be joined by the eight third-place sides in each of the UEFA Champions League groups.
Tags: