Champions League: City welcome runners-up Juventus to the Etihad

Sky Blues in ominous domestic form but yet to click in Europe.

MANCHESTER: Manchester City open their Champions League campaign against last season’s beaten finalists Juventus on Tuesday looking to finally make a mark in the competition.

After successive group-stage exits, City have fallen to Barcelona in the last-16 in the last two seasons, but they spent big during the close season and are currently flying high at the top of the Premier League.

Once again the draw was not entirely kind on Manuel Pellegrini’s men, who also face Borussia Moenchengladbach and Europa League winners Sevilla, but midfielder Fernandinho says they will draw inspiration from their impressive domestic form. “It is a tough group,” said the Brazil international. “We have tough games against good teams, but I think if we keep playing like we are, we have a great chance to finish top of the group.”

City would be eyeing their Group D opener with more confidence were it not for the potential absence of last season’s top scorer Sergio Aguero, who took a blow to the knee during Saturday’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Attacking midfielders David Silva and Raheem Sterling are both in contention to return, having sat out the game at Palace with ankle and hamstring problems respectively.

There was no shame in City losing out last season to Barcelona, who beat them 3-1 on aggregate before overcoming Juventus by the same scoreline in the final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, but it demonstrated the gulf separating City from Europe’s elite.

Juventus also experienced close-season upheaval, with Paulo Dybala, Sami Khedira, Mario Mandzukic, Simone Zaza, Alex Sandro and Hernanes among a raft of players brought in to bolster a squad that lost a trio of talismans in Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal.

In stark contrast to City, however, the new signings have not yet clicked and Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Chievo meant that Juve have gone three games without winning at the start of a season for the first time since 1968.

“It’s obviously a negative period and we have big improvements to make,” said manager Max Allegri. “We need to keep on working. The season is long. We’re not thinking about league titles or the Champions League. We’re taking things a game at a time.”

Ronaldo has Messi’s record in sight

Cristiano Ronaldo has more goalscoring records in his sights when Real Madrid get their campaign under way at home to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Ronaldo became Los Blancos’ all-time top goalscorer in La Liga on Saturday with five goals in a 6-0 rout of Espanyol.

He now has the chance to edge ahead of Lionel Messi as the top scorer in the Champions League with the world’s two best players currently locked on 77 goals apiece.

Another flood of goals could be on the cards at the Bernabeu against a Shakhtar side weakened by the ongoing unstable political situation in Ukraine.

However, midfielder Viktor Kovalenko believes they can cause an upset at the Bernabeu. “I think it is interesting for any player to play against the stars of this level,” he told the club’s website. “Shakhtar now have a chance not only to play but even beat them. We will try to show our best, making every effort to achieve victory in this match.”

Rooney out as Depay returns to Eindhoven

Skipper Wayne Rooney will miss Manchester United’s trip to PSV Eindhoven, with new summer signing Memphis Depay looking to spark at his former club.

Rooney picked up a hamstring injury training ahead of Saturday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool and will not be rushed back by manager Louis van Gaal for the European group stage opener. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2015.

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