Official Aris v Man City Thread

[lionheart]

Dedicated to Fixer...

Given
Boateng
Toure (K)
Lescott
Kolarov
Vieira
De Jong
Barry
SWP
Dzeko
Jo

Subs;

Hart
Richards
Kompany
Zabaleta
Toure(Y)
Milner
Silva

 

[bigquinn772]

Just read this on UEFA's web site:

City threaten Aris's 40-year unbeaten home run

Unbeaten in UEFA club competition at their Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium – a run of 40 years – Aris Thessaloniki FC hope the arena's simmering atmosphere can unnerve Manchester City FC.

In the course of 40 years – and 24 home games in UEFA club competition – no visiting team has triumphed at the home of Greece's Aris Thessaloniki FC, despite some European giants coming to call. However, that record will be tested to the limit as Manchester City FC visit in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie on 15 February.

"Manchester City are a powerhouse," conceded caretaker coach and former Aris player Ioannis Michalitsios, who took over following Héctor Cúper's departure in January. "You only have to think how they had Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench and now he is a first-team player since going to Real Madrid on loan."

Overcoming Roberto Mancini's men will be no small task. If Aris are to extend that unbeaten run to 25 matches, the 53-year-old Michalitsios told UEFA.com his side must "give our best possible performance and, at the same time, hope Manchester City don't hit their peak against us".

 

[Andouble]

I don't want to say that we'll lose, but I don't think we'll win. If the game was on a Thursday like normal and we could field a better team we'd be alright.

 

[keemcfc]

_______________Hart_______________
Richards__Kolo Touré__Lescott__Boateng
_________________________________
__________Vieira_____Barry_________
SWP________________________Kolarov
________________Jö_______________
_______________Džeko_____________

Bench:

Given,

Boyata,
Zabaleta,

Silva,

Tévez,

& 2 of: Razak/M Johnson/Guidetti/de Jong/Milner/Balotelli

Milner to start if he's fit. As well as Balotelli/de Jong if they're 100% by then, but no risks.

 

[Andouble]

keemcfc half of your team is not even fit.

Mancini ruled Balotelli out already and said he will probably be on the bench Sunday. De Jong is still up in the air, and Milner went off injured yesterday.

 

[LoveCity]

Just a reminder of what the lads are walking into!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ndV-zZRVCA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Experience and composure will be needed for this game, not something we should take lightly at all. 40+ years without a loss there in Europe for Aris but to me it has to be the intimidation factor as their domestic home form lately has been gash.

 

[citysky]

we need to get a win here and win comfortably after that loss. and plus it would be good to be able to rest players for the second leg, and not have to play 1st team starters.
common city!!!!!!!!!

 

[lionheart]

we need to get a win here and win comfortably after that loss. and plus it would be good to be able to rest players for the second leg, and not have to play 1st team starters.

You have absolutely no idea about European football. It will be a much more difficult match than you envisage, especially with a much weakened starting eleven. A 2-0 defeat is a strong possibility but I hope that Dezeko can get us that all so precious away goal...

sadly, it now seems that Dzeko is not travelling with the party to Thessaloniki (unless he is driving overland from Bosnia in a very, very fast car) so, in the words of Sargeant Mackay (or whoever)...WE ARE DOOMED, DOOMED I TELL YOU.

 

[Richard]

-----------------------------Hart--------------------------------------

--Richards--------Toure------------Kompany---------Zabaleta-----------

--------------------------De Jong--------------------------------------

---------------Milner--------------------Barry-------------------------

--SWP----------------------------------------------Kolorov-----------

--------------------------Tevez--------------------------------------

Lets not mess about here. These are a half decent team and fielding a weaker team would be suicide. Can always rotate in the second leg if we have a decent enough result on Tuesday.

 

[johnny crossan]

Somebody on here has posted that Dzeko wasn't on the plane, does anybody know who was on it?