City Vs Seville Champions League Pre Match Thread

[Stoned Rose]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single comprehensive Champions League win at home. We'll be playing against a good team who will be very motivated so this is going to be very difficult. I've seen previous Sevilla teams give absolutely everything to win the UEFA Cup. This maybe a different team, but City fans and as a club continually underestimate the opposition in this tournament. We have a chance, but we are without a lot of key players and it will have an impact at this level.

CSKA?

 

[KnaresboroughBlue]

I am thinking of flying from Manchester to Madrid on the Monday,back Wednesday but not sure about the trains,what would you advise?
They don't look that regular.Is the station far from the centre?

When I lived in Madrid, there used to be a high speed train called the AVE that ran from Madrid to Seville and covered the distance in around 2 and a half hours. Runs every hour.

 

[Mike N]

How far is Betis from Sevilles ground?

I am thinking of flying from Manchester to Madrid on the Monday,back Wednesday but not sure about the trains,what would you advise?
They don't look that regular.Is the station far from the centre?

Cheers in advance.City fans don't go looking for trouble,tends to be a beer trip for most so should be a great couple of days.

We will of course welcome Seville fans this Wed,how many will they be bringing?

The train station is quite near Seville's ground. From memory, Betis is around 3 miles from Seville's ground, both are in the city.

 

[Manchester33]

Could be a tricky game this. I'm confident, but I won't be surprised if we get beat.

Despite a lack of Champions League experience these are top dogs when it comes to European competition as a whole, 4 UEFA cups in 10 years shows their pedigree and they will be right up for it, let's just hope they perform in a similar fashion to their game in Turin!

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I believe that the reason VK sat out the Bournemouth game was part rest and part politics. MP made it clear to everyone that he shouldn’t have played for Belgium and there was also a message for VK in that his place is not guaranteed!

With that done I think we need him back and I would go with a VK Mangala partnership. We can then go into the derby with a more settled back 4. Sagna was ok at left back and I’d stick with that.

The only other issue is Yaya. I suspect he is carrying a knock of some sort. I’d be tempted to sit him out and rest him for the derby but I’m pretty sure MP will play him as he always does in big games. Hopefully we get an early two goal lead and he can come off.

 

[Marvin]

I believe that the reason VK sat out the Bournemouth game was part rest and part politics. MP made it clear to everyone that he shouldn’t have played for Belgium and there was also a message for VK in that his place is not guaranteed!

With that done I think we need him back and I would go with a VK Mangala partnership. We can then go into the derby with a more settled back 4. Sagna was ok at left back and I’d stick with that.

The only other issue is Yaya. I suspect he is carrying a knock of some sort. I’d be tempted to sit him out and rest him for the derby but I’m pretty sure MP will play him as he always does in big games. Hopefully we get an early two goal lead and he can come off.

Maybe if he had not have played for Belgium he could have played against Bournemouth, but coming back from injury you can't play 4 games in 10 days.

We wont be focussing on the weekend game until this game is over. Maybe Wenger has had half an eye on the league when Arsenal have been playing in Europe and that is why they are almost out

These are big games and if you don't have the right focus you will get beat as we have so often found out.

Sagna was not alright at left back. he got booked in an incident where he was caught off balance, and barely got forward at all.....it was a massive difference to having Kolarov at left back but it didn't matter against Bournemouth. It will against Sevilla

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

I didn’t say he was a world beater, in the absence of the two recognised LBs he was ok. My point is I wouldn’t try anything else or rush back Clichy with zero game time.
The fact he didn’t bomb forward is not a concern for me. We should have enough through the rest of the team without needing a threat from left back and that was evident on Saturday. We could have had 10 so all in all, Sagna at LB works ok for me.

 

[bugsyblue]

I take it this isn't one of the designated free matches on BT sports?

 

[Ric]

This is going to be an extremely tough game. Sevilla are a strong side, and we're going to be stretched with the injuries we have.

I'm guessing our bench will be something like Caballero, Demichelis, Otamendi, Fernando, Garcia, Barker, and Ambrose, which doesn't give us many options if we're chasing the game.

 

[supercity88]

If we play like we did on Saturday we'll beat Sevilla. They're a very experienced and solid side in Europe and they'll be very hard to beat but we have the talent to win the game and it can be won by staying compact and looking to find space in behind with Sterling as we did on the weekend. We're in good form and I think we will win.

I can also see Juve being upset by Monchengladbach. They're in good form and they'll be wise to Juve's style of play and could reverse the cards and hit them on the break instead. It's vital we win this game and it makes the return fixture a game where Sevilla have to come at us and we can pick them off hopefully. A big week in our season. Two wins and it's been one hell of a start and we'll have dealt the rags their second big blow in the league in three games after the heavy defeat to Arsenal. With their away trip to Moscow we should be more than ready to take them on. That game will be tough and cold!