Blue Days

So this is the Champions League. An exhilerating game where City went for the win, ran out of steam, then came back to claim a draw thanks to a perfectly executed Kolarov free-kick.

If City were the team in the third pot whom everyone wanted to avoid, then Napoli were surely the fourth pot equivalent. Both sides were victims of their poor UEFA co-efficients and consequently Group A is looking to be of a particularly high standard.

Hart – Grateful to his crossbar in the first half but suffered the indignity of a shot through his legs in the second. Also grateful to the captain for one goal line clearance. 6

Zabaleta – A steady, if unspectacular return. Levazzi never gave him chance to rest. 7

City take on Napoli in the Etihad Stadium’s first ever Champions League game. It promises to be a special night both on and off the pitch with Roberto Mancini’s in-form team taking on an impressive Napoli attack.

One of the few concerns against Wigan on Saturday was the lack of a genuine holding midfield player as both Yaya and Milner frequently left a space between midfield and defence. Mancini is hoping Gareth Barry can return to help fill this gap. There’s no doubt either de Jong or a fully fit Owen Hargreaves would be preferable against European opponents.