Manchester City vs Steaua Bucharest – UEFA Champions League – Preview

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Sreya

Manchester City hosts Steaua Bucharest at the Etihad on 24th August, Wednesday in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League qualifier. Manchester City battered the Romanian side to claim a 5-0 win in the first leg last week, which all but guaranteed City’s passage into the group stages of Europe’s premier competition.

Pep Guardiola’s arrival has shaken things up at the Manchester-based club with the Spaniard dropping a number of former crucial first-teamers regularly. Manchester City have started on a winning note in all competitions, but their performances in the English Premier League leave a lot to be desired.

Team News

Ilkay Gundogan, Vincent Kompany and Bacary Sagna are the long-term absentees for Manchester City while Yaya Toure and Joe Hart remain in contention for their first start of the season.

Steaua Bucharest will be looking to their talismanic player Nicolae Stanciu for any sort of chance of mounting a comeback.

Steaua Bucharest Possible Starting Lineup: Nita; Enache, Tosca, Tamas, Momcilovic; Muniru, Achim; Popa, Stanciu, Hamroun; Golubovic.

Manchester City Possible Starting Lineup: Joe Hart, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nicolas Otamendi, John Stones, Pablo Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Fabian Delph, Jesus Navas, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero.

“I have lot of respect for the opponents and I know what can happen in football. Everybody knows nothing is done until it is done. We are so happy with 5-0 but we have to take the opponent seriously and try to win the game.

Results help us to be more calm. We have to try to play as good as possible to achieve the result. We have to improve a lot but in the short time we have been together, we have made very good things.”

– Pep Guardiola, Manchester City.

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Manchester City have won the only game they played against Steaua Bucharest. Pep Guardiola’s side will start as favorites and are likely to win by a 3-0 scoreline.