Manchester City v FC Timisoara: Match Preview

Europa League Playoff 2nd leg (Manchester City lead 1-0 on aggregate)

Thursday, 26 August 2010

So here we are again, the second leg of a tie to get into the group stages of Europe’s second club competition. This time two years Manchester City were almost dumped out of the competition by FC Midtjylland of Denmark, but a late own goal forced extra time, and the Blues squeezed through on penalties.

Looking back at the side that took the field that day, you can see how much has changed in such a short space of time. Joe Hart, who saved two penalties in the shootout, has left the club and come back even better than he was already. Only one of the back four of Tal Ben Haim, Richard Dunne, Micah Richards and Michael Ball is still at Eastlands, while Michael Johnson is battling back from injury and Jo is trying to find some sort of form. The others – Elano, Stephen Ireland, Vedran Corluka, and Martin Petrov – have all moved on to pastures new.

Roberto Mancini’s expensively assembled squad will be looking to avoid similar difficulties at the City of Manchester Stadium tonight, and should progress with a 1-0 leg from the first leg in Romania last week. That win came at a price though with Mario Balotelli limping off with a knee injury having scored the only goal of the game off the bench.

“Mario is still sore, so we must wait. He has this problem in his knee. We will wait for the Sunderland game. It is impossible he will play in our next match. We won the first game against Timisoara but it was difficult. I will make three or four changes as it is impossible for players to play every three days.”
Brazilian striker Jo is in line for a start up front and Mancini is also weighing up whether to give want away goalkeeper Shay Given a chance to prove his worth ahead of the impressive Hart.

James Milner, the club’s most recent signing from Aston Villa, is unavailable having not been registered in time, while Aleksander Kolarov, Jerome Boateng and Wayne Bridge are all out injured.

“I have been able to see Jo close-up in the last two months and what I have seen makes me think he’s a good player,” said Mancini. “I can also remember seeing him play for CSKA Moscow a few years ago when I was with Internazionale and he’s a good striker. We want to keep him.”

Milner, meanwhile, heaped praise on his new club and expressed his delight at the ‘English core’ which was at the heart of the 3-0 win over Liverpool on Monday.

“You look at every team that has done well in the Premier League and they had an English core,” he said. “It is the same in any country but you need the perfect mix and the perfect balance.

“That is down to the manager and I think (Roberto Mancini) has done that here. As long as everyone is bringing something to the table, it is good to have that mix, and get it right.

“We had a number of English players the other night but we can also chop and change because of the quality we have on the bench, not to mention the players who are injured. It is a fantastic squad and hopefully we can go places.”

Not a lot is known about the opposition, and their performance last Thursday did little to suggest that they pose City much of threat. They played as recently as Tuesday night when they exited their domestic cup so the players won’t exactly be fresh. Defender Marian Cisovski will miss the game having suffered an injury at the weekend.

“City have a huge advantage,” said Timisoara coach Vladimir Petrovic. “Not only are they ahead in the tie, they can pick two squads. I do not know which one is best. We have never been favourites and after the first leg it has become even harder for us.

“If we had managed a draw it would have been a different situation. We will try to attack City if we have the chance, knowing that it will be huge for the club if we did manage to progress in the competition.”

Manchester City (from): Hart, Given, Richards, Zabaleta, Lescott, K Toure, Kompany, Wright-Phillips, Johnson, Barry, Silva, Vieira, De Jong, Y Toure, Tevez, Adebayor, Jo, Logan.

Prediction: It’s hard to know what side Roberto Mancini will field but City should still have more than enough to overcome below average opponents at home. Jo may get a rare start and it would be great to see him on the scoresheet, while the exciting David Silva would benefit from another 90 minutes on English soil. The loss of Balotelli is disappointing but his time will come, and we saw glimpses last week of the talent he possesses.

City to win 2-0

Thanks to xavi6 of ManCityFans.net for writing this preview

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