Inexperienced Champions League contestants Manchester City will face the fury of rock-bottomed Villarreal at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
Things definitely don’t look good for Manchester City in Group A. Nothing is lost yet, but doom is surely glooming in the horizon. When the draw was made ahead of the UEFA Champions League campaign, Manchester City had very little to celebrate. They didn’t fall in the kindest group.
Securing the third spot in the English Premier League last season brought joy to every Sky Blue across the globe. But the team now has to live to expectations in Europe or else accept a miserable fate. Villarreal are expected to provide Manchester City with a tough challenge tonight and ex-La Liga player David Silva knows it.
“This is a very important game for us. We need to get the three points or we will start to lose touch with the leading teams,” Silva was quoted as saying on City’s official website.
“It’s a tough group but we are good enough to progress to the knock-out stages.”
Indeed, Manchester City can certainly boast of having the best squad list in Group A. But with their stars, can they match the experience of on-fire Bayern Munich to subsequently reach the Round of 16?
One cannot underestimate the potential of Napoli either. The Italians are currently 3 points above Man City and they are keen to maintain their momentum to make history in their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign.
The Yellow Submarines of Villarreal, meanwhile, are enduring an awkward period. But rather than losing thrice on the trot tonight, Villarreal may pour the anger for losing 2-0 to Bayern and Napoli on City. Silva, who knows much about this Spanish Primera Division side, said:
“Villarreal are a great side that pass the ball around and break very quickly. We will need to be on our guard or they will punish us.”
Why are the current English Premier League leaders doing so well domestically and not in Europe? Silva tried to answer this question by explaining the following:
“In the Premier League we have got a lot of games under our belt and are playing really well. Maybe, we need to play more Champions League games before we adapt to the competition.”
The Sky Blues definitely need to get the edge mentally if they want to survive in the Champions League. But this competition doesn’t allow much time to grow.
So should Manchester City put their European hopes and plans on a larger map which will cover future years? Is it too unrealistic for the Sky Blues to dream about experiencing a satisfying UEFA Champions League campaign this season?
Well, history isn’t on Manchester City’s side ahead of the Villarreal match. The Yellow Submarines have never failed to qualify from the group stages of an European competition. In addition, Villarreal have never lost 3 consecutive UEFA games.
Securing the third spot in the English Premier League last season brought joy to every Sky Blue across the globe. But the team now has to live to expectations in Europe or else accept a miserable fate. Villarreal are expected to provide Manchester City with a tough challenge tonight and ex-La Liga player David Silva knows it.
“This is a very important game for us. We need to get the three points or we will start to lose touch with the leading teams,” Silva was quoted as saying on City’s official website.
“It’s a tough group but we are good enough to progress to the knock-out stages.”
Indeed, Manchester City can certainly boast of having the best squad list in Group A. But with their stars, can they match the experience of on-fire Bayern Munich to subsequently reach the Round of 16?
One cannot underestimate the potential of Napoli either. The Italians are currently 3 points above Man City and they are keen to maintain their momentum to make history in their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign.
The Yellow Submarines of Villarreal, meanwhile, are enduring an awkward period. But rather than losing thrice on the trot tonight, Villarreal may pour the anger for losing 2-0 to Bayern and Napoli on City. Silva, who knows much about this Spanish Primera Division side, said:
“Villarreal are a great side that pass the ball around and break very quickly. We will need to be on our guard or they will punish us.”
Why are the current English Premier League leaders doing so well domestically and not in Europe? Silva tried to answer this question by explaining the following:
“In the Premier League we have got a lot of games under our belt and are playing really well. Maybe, we need to play more Champions League games before we adapt to the competition.”
The Sky Blues definitely need to get the edge mentally if they want to survive in the Champions League. But this competition doesn’t allow much time to grow.
So should Manchester City put their European hopes and plans on a larger map which will cover future years? Is it too unrealistic for the Sky Blues to dream about experiencing a satisfying UEFA Champions League campaign this season?
Well, history isn’t on Manchester City’s side ahead of the Villarreal match. The Yellow Submarines have never failed to qualify from the group stages of an European competition. In addition, Villarreal have never lost 3 consecutive UEFA games.
