City face toughest Eurotest yet in Italian cauldron

THE EXCITEMENT was palpable when Manchester City met Napoli at the Etihad Stadium for their last Champions League clash.

Neither were amongst the pre-tournament favourites to win it, but the fact the Italians netted a staggering 94 goals in Serie A last season and City are averaging over three per game in the Premier League promised a pulsating affair. That is exactly what the viewers got.

City raced into a two-goal lead before Dries Mertens missed a penalty for Napoli before Amadou Diawara took their second chance from the spot with acute precision.

It could have been more for the visitors, and they do need a win after losing to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg, but with their ferocious support behind them at the Stadio San Paolo, they will be more than confident of beating the English side who have recently begun shipping goals at a relatively big rate compared to previous games.

Games against Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion yielded 10 goals for Pep Guardiola’s men, but also saw them concede four.

There are areas at the back to exploit for Napoli, and with Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon up front, they are more than capable of taking advantage, especially when supplied by Marek Hamsik from midfield.

A report from the weekend win over West Brom described eventual match winner Fernandinho as Guardiola’s heartbeat on the pitch.

With Kevin de Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero to call upon, the Brazilian is not usually required to be decisive in attack. He has been excellent for City at the base of their midfield and will be crucial if Napoli aren’t to run wild in front of their own fans.

The match-up between Marek Hamsik vs Fernandinho is crucial: Napoli play with such a high press and their attack is so dynamic that they could get a lot of joy coming up against the high line of City.

They will thrive when given service, and it is Fernandinho’s job to make sure that doesn’t come from the centre of the pitch, particularly from Slovakian Hamsik.

The Brazilian has been protecting the back four with little credit all season, but that will change if he can help his side make it four wins from four in the Champions League this season in Naples.

That may be possible but De Bruyne doesn’t think City will go the season unbeaten despite their phenomenal start to the campaign.

The midfielder believes an invincible record this term will be too much to ask, despite City being the country’s only unblemished team in the top four divisions.

But while De Bruyne is eager to tighten their grip at the top of the table, he feels going un- beaten is a tall order.

The 26-year-old said: “To go unbeaten? Well, it’s very hard. I don’t think it will be possible. The level of competition is so high, in every team. It’s not like, with all respect, 10 or 15 years ago where you have a couple of teams that won’t win against the top teams.

“Now, every game is hard and you need to be mentally there. And with the Champions League and all the cups, there will be a game where maybe we are a little bit less and maybe lose. But as long as it keeps going, it’s good.

“Obviously, if you win a lot of games it’s good for us. You keep maintaining pressure. Hopefully we can have two good games this week and go into the international break unbeaten and it will mean we put a lot of pressure on the rest.”

Victory in Italy tomorrow morning will mean City progress from Group F with two games to spare, but De Bruyne wants to avoid distractions.

“We know if we go to Napoli and win then we’ll have qualified. That would be a nice position,” said the Belgium international.

“It’s important just to get qualified not about thinking about what it might mean, whether we could get a rest. If we are qualified, that is done.

“We might then have to think about finishing first or whatever but we know if we get a point or win, we are qualified.” – Agencies