Europa League preview: Manchester City v Juventus

Tonight sees Juventus visit Eastlands as the biggest continental club we’ve played, outside of the Thomas Cook Trophy, since the 70’s. Back then Juve were lead from the back by Dino Zoff and managed by Giovanni Trappatoni – a manager who now sees more of Shay Given than we do.

The current Juve side may not be one of their greatest as they undergo a rebuilding process, both on and off the pitch. However the Agnelli family have dug deep once again to allow the signing of Krasic. Like ourselves, they are currently attempting to assimilate a host of new signings, though their start to the season has been less satisfactory than ours.

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What does Mancini’s Krasic interest mean for SWP?

In the build-up to the Juventus game, today sees Roberto Mancini quoted as having looked to sign Milos Krasic when he was in charge of Inter and at City. The Serbian plays on the right wing and there was plenty of speculation linking him to City over the Summer, before he eventually moved to Juve from CSKA Moscow.

There’s no great surprise in Mancini’s interest as Krasic looks a decent winger, scoring a hat-trick at the weekend. It will be interesting to see how he performs on Thursday.

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City transfer talk returns already

It may feel like the transfer window has only just shut but that hasn’t stopped talk of Roberto Mancini making some final additions to his squad in January. Normally this would be unlikely as major deals are considered to difficult and costly during the mid-season window.

However, this January represents the last chance for Sheikh Mansour to splash his cash on new signings. From next summer onwards club finances will come under the scrutiny of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules.

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Verdict: Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0

City recorded their most impressive victory of the season so far thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez and a defensive performance to rank alongside the best in the clubs recent history. With the same defenders as Mark Hughes had available, it doesn’t take a Match of the Day analyst to see where Mancini has had the greatest effect.

With injuries accounting for four players likely to have played full-back, this was a real testament to Italian managerial organisation and motivation. Dedryck Boyata was the young central defender asked to play right-back and did so with great composure and beautifully timed tackling.

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