Manchester City - AS Roma: Preview

Manuel Pellegrini is refusing to panic ahead of Manchester City’s clash with AS Roma following an opening day 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich.

After a slow start to their campaign, City have managed to gather pace with back-to-back wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull.

Coming off a 7-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday, the visitors got off to a perfect start against Hull by racing to a two goal lead in the first 15 minutes. A first half horror show by Mangala had the match tied 2-2 at half time only for Dzeko and Lampard to score and put the match beyond doubt.

With City’s forwards firing on all cylinders and Lampard enjoying a purple patch of scoring, Pellegrini should have more than one reason to be confident.

“'Winning the Champions League is one of the projects but we must also continue winning Premier League titles and FA Cups and to arrive in the semi-finals and not to be eliminated at the group stage.'

Already with a smaller squad due to FFP punishments, City's manager will have to do without the services of Nasri, Fernando and Jovetic due to injuries.

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Sergio Aguero - The Argentine returned to action against Hull and got on the scoring sheet with a fantastic volley. His telepathic understanding with Dzeko caused problems for Hull’s defence. Aguero would be the key as City aims to beat an AS Roma team that has only conceded twice in all competitions.

AS Roma: The surprise package of group E

Rudi Garcia’s men got their Champions League campaign off to a flyer. The Italians were dominant in their 5-1 win against CSKA Moscow and have won all their league matches.

Despite being in the group of death, an impressive start has the fans dreaming of Champions League progression. Rudi Garcia has tried to remove the weight of expectation off his team and insisted that the pressure should be on the Premier League champions.

"It will be a fantastic event; they have zero points and a lot of pressure on their shoulders, so they need to get a result on home turf.

We are solid and this squad proved we have confidence in our abilities. This group is ready to handle the difficult moments when they come. We are fortunate to be able to face two of the strongest teams in Europe. We must enjoy this moment and try to be leaders,” Roma’s coach told reporters after their 2-0 win over Hellas Verona.

Garcia will have to do without the services of vice-captain Daniele De Rossi, Leandro Castan, Davide Astori, Marco Borriello, Salih Ucan and long term absentees Kevin Strootman and Federico Balzaretti. Though, he is able to welcome back Juan Iturbe.

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