Champions League preview: Manchester City face crucial clash with Roma
The UEFA Champions League returns on Tuesday with a spate of appetizing matchups on another busy day of games. Two of the deadliest groups will be in action as Manchester City host AS Roma (live, FOX Sports 1, 2 p.m. ET) and Bayern Munich travel to CSKA Moscow (live, FOX Soccer Plus, noon ET) in Group E. In Group F, Paris Saint-Germain welcome Barcelona (live, FOX Deportes, 2 p.m. ET). Meanwhile, in Group G, Chelsea go to Lisbon to take on Sporting (live, FOX Sports 2, 2 p.m. ET).
All the action can be followed from 2 p.m. ET on MultiMatch 90 on FOX Soccer Plus and FOXSoccer2GO as well. Every Champions League match is available on FOXSoccer2GO; select games are available on an authenticated basis via FOXSportsGO.
City face what is effectively a must-win contest when Roma comes to town. It’s a contest that a cynic might label a battle of Financial Fair Play cheats – both clubs have gotten in hot water with UEFA’s financial break-even stipulations by attempting to exploit loopholes and, in City’s case, even threatening to litigate. Sure, the second round of games doesn’t yet put anybody in peril of missing out on the round of 16, but this group is so tight that City badly need the points.
Two weeks ago, a 90th-minute winner from their former player Jerome Boating cost them a point in Munich. Roma, meanwhile, feasted on CSKA 5-1. If the Russians really are the pushovers they appeared to be in their continental opener, City could find themselves in a deep hole if they don’t put some points on the board on Tuesday.
Both City and Roma are attacking powerhouses who have made strong starts to their respective domestic campaigns. Like last year, Roma have won all five of their opening Serie A games. In Juan Iturbe and Gervinho – yes, that Gervinho, Arsenal fans – they have a pair of wingers who have been giving opposing back lines fits with their runs. City, for their part, have lost just one of six Premier League games in spite of a brutal early-season schedule. Against Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in the span of four games, they lost not one.
They have scarcely missed a beat from last season, when they were English champions again, and are now deeper and better, in fact, with Stevan Jovetic’s breakout out up front. They have never made it past the round of 16 in Europe though, and that is expected of them now, making the points up for grabs on Tuesday all the more urgent.
In the group’s other game, Bayern will be hopeful that their night won’t be quite so arduous as it was at home against City. They are currently afflicted with a rash of knee injuries, felling Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcantara, Holger Badstuber, Franck Ribery and Javi Martinez. CSKA, for their part, have some regrouping to do.
The Russians have made a fine start to their Russian Premier League season, but it took Roma just half an hour to put four goals past them in their first game. They have plenty of ability in their squad and need to ensure that their first game was an aberration.
Paris Saint-Germain will be without injured star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as they host mighty Barcelona, and that will hurt. After they let Ajax back into their opener after taking an early lead, and ultimately settling for a 1-1 draw, they could use a point or three against Barca.
Or else the Dutchmen could open a gap as they travel to APOEL, who promise to be the group’s whipping boys. In fairness, the Cypriots held Barca to a 1-0 win two weeks ago, but that might have had more to do with an off-day by the Catalans.
Barca are, almost naturally, undefeated in La Liga so far, having taken wins from all but their away game against Malaga, which ended 0-0. Wedged around that stalemate, however, were a 5-0 win at Levante and a 6-0 battering of Granada at home. In the absence of suspended mega-signing Luis Suarez, they are coping just fine under new manager Luis Enrique and his fresh approach.
PSG cannot say the same though. While they, too, are undefeated in Ligue 1, they have won just three of eight, having to settle for five draws. For all their attacking firepower, the timely goals have eluded them.
In Group G, the four teams are tied completely after both games ended 1-1 on Day 1. Since this is another tight group, Chelsea will want to leave Portugal with three points in hand after they took just one against Schalke at home. If the Londoners aren’t careful, they could find themselves in a precarious three-way tussle, assuming Maribor fades down the stretch.
The Blues might be without striker Diego Costa though. In spite of being just 25 and costing them a huge bundle of money, the Brazilian-born Spaniard has fickle hamstrings – which hobbled him in last season’s Champions League and La Liga finales. He barely practices these days and is a big question mark for the game.
Since his arrival, Costa has scored eight times in just six Premier League matches, looking for the entire world like the missing part in Chelsea’s puzzle. Without him, the match -- and indeed their entire continental campaign -- could be in trouble.
