Kompany: Roar us past Real
VINCENT KOMPANY believes the noise of a passionate home crowd can help Manchester City upset European giants Real Madrid tonight. The City captain is expected to lead the attempt to subdue megastars Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale and so put one foot into the Champions League final at Milan’s San Siro stadium next month. The club’s website crashed last week under the demand for tickets for tonight’s game at the Etihad Stadium, and Kompany said: ‘We play against one of the greatest clubs of all time and our support will be able to make the difference. ‘They have to be as loud as they have ever been, otherwise what’s the point in buying a ticket? We need them.’
ONLY a month to go until the end of the season and still we don’t know how to measure Manchester City. They have been rather aimless in the Barclays Premier League, having now surrendered what was left of their title challenge with three games to go.
In Europe, on the other hand, credibility has finally arrived and that, in turn, has brought them unexpected opportunity.
Tonight Manuel Pellegrini’s team face Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium. For the Spanish club, it is a record 27th European Cup semi-final and their sixth in a row. For City, this is virgin territory.
The key to it, at least in part, may well be which City side turn up, the one who beat Paris Saint-Germain so impressively in the last eight or the one who have managed only one victory over big-name opposition (ninth-placed Chelsea) in the Premier League.
Yesterday captain Vincent Kompany prefaced the challenge by alluding to the theme.
‘I think what everyone wishes within the club is that we are just able to show how good we are and that we are able to perform to the level we can,’ said Kompany.
‘We cannot fail to reach our best level. That is the only pressure we have. If we play the level we can, I am sure everyone will see a very competitive game and we will have a chance. That is the only thing we are worried about — can we play at our level?’
Kompany delivered a call to arms for his team-mates and the home crowd to play their part in what could be a historic night for the club.
Inadvertently, however, he also cut to the heart of what has held back Pellegrini’s City in recent times, namely inconsistency.
Teams that reach the last four of this competition aren’t normally left to worry about performance levels. If you reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, you are good enough.
City, though, are rather different. Pellegrini’s team deserve to be here. Their victory over PSG at home in the second leg of their quarter- final tie was a real European performance, stubborn, clinical and assured.
But tonight may represent a trickier assignment for a team who even Pellegrini suggested recently have struggled to maintain standards since the Chilean revealed he would be leaving the club to make way for Pep Guardiola this summer.
Asked yesterday if City should worry about the threat posed by Cristiano Ronaldo, Kompany stuck to his theme and said: ‘The answer is always going to be the same. If we perform well as a team and play really well as a team, we have a chance of stopping him and if not he will probably score.
‘It’s the same answer as any player gives against Real Madrid and it’s no different from this side.’
Madrid arrived in Manchester last night with Ronaldo believed to be fit after overcoming a little hamstring trouble.
Playing the home leg first, City know they have the responsibility to force the game — to win — and hope they can hang on for a result in the Bernabeu next week. Pellegrini is facing the club he managed for the 2009-10 season which provides some extra intrigue. More important to the 62-year-old, however, is the opportunity to leave something special behind when he leaves City.
‘I don’t evaluate myself by trophies,’ he said. ‘ But it is very important to reach this final because of the work we have done for three years.
‘I think there is an advantage of playing at home second, as you know what you have to do. You never know when you play at home first. So we want to go into this game in a balanced way and stop them scoring an away goal. If we can get a goal, great.’
Interest in this tie from City supporters was so great last week that the club’s website crashed under the demand and Kompany believes the supporters can play a part this evening.
To reach a Champions League final certainly would be a landmark achievement.
‘We play against one of the greatest clubs of all time and our support will be able to make the difference,’ said the 30-year-old Belgian.
‘I have never seen a Man City team not turn up when the fans are up for it. They have to be as loud as they have ever been, otherwise what’s the point in buying a ticket? We need them.
‘For us, this is massive. It is really good to be able to measure yourself against a team like Real Madrid and see how far you have got after so many years.
‘If you are not hungry for this, you never will be hungry. For us it is a tremendous honour to be here at this stage and represent this club. We are the first to do it. We just try to push the boundaries every year.
‘I don’t think these occasions are stressful or difficult. I want this for myself. All the players want this for themselves.
‘We have to play against these players as much as we can and try to beat these teams.
‘That is how we are going to leave our history for this club.’