Manchester City v FC Porto – Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds – Europa League – 22 February 2012
Manchester City have a 2-1 lead heading into the UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg against Portuguese side FC Porto. The match will take place at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, Italy on Wednesday, February 22, 2012. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 EST (USA Eastern), 17:00 GMT (UK time), and 18:00 CET (Central Europe).
Manchester City v FC Porto TV Listings
The match will be televised on GolTV (USA), ESPN (UK), C+ (Finland/Spain/France/Sweden), Digi Sport (Hungary), NTV (Russia), Setanta Sports (Ireland), Sky Sport (Germany), Sport 1 (Israel), Sport TV1 (Portugal), SuperSport (Africa), TV2 Sport 1 (Norway), TV3+ (Denmark).
Manchester City v FC Porto Preview
Man City manager Roberto Mancini
“Every game is dangerous but it is better to start from 2-1.”
“We know that Porto is a top team and we should play like it’s 0-0.”
“For us every game is serious, we want to win all the games, sometimes it’s possible sometimes not. But for us it’s [the Europa League] a serious competition.”
“What happened can happen (racist chants) sometimes in Italy or France, but Mario is strong.”
“I didn’t hear this but everywhere there are some not clever people. This is life.”
“In Europe there are two competitions – the Europa League and the Champions League.
“We played in the Champions League for the first time this year and we were really unlucky not to go to the second stage with 10 points.
“If we win the Europa League it would be an important moment for the club.
“It won’t be easy because there are top squads, but we want to arrive in the final, it’s important for us.”
“We will play our normal game on Wednesday but it is vital every player works hard for the team and if we are to have players like [Samir] Nasri, [David] Silva, [Sergio] Aguero or [Mario] Balotelli in our starting line-up, every player has to work hard and defend when they need to or else we can’t play with so many attacking players.”
FC Porto manager Vitor Pereira
“Our biggest strength will be our collective play. I do not believe in magic touches, nor in pulling rabbits out of hats.
“I do believe in work consistency and the identity of the team. We will try to have the ball to create chances and also defend the way we normally do, with aggressive transitions.
“It is by being consistent throughout the match that we want to win the tie.”
“I am sure the match will be balanced. We only have to fix some things that we did wrong in the first leg.”
Team Europa League Stats
| Manchester City | FC Porto | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Sergio Agüero 1 | Varela 1 |
| Assists | ||
| Yellows | Yaya Touré 1 | Álvaro Pereira 1 |
Manchester City v FC Porto Prediction
Manchester City wins 3-1
Manchester City v FC Porto Betting Odds
Man City win – 8/13
Draw – 11/4
FC Porto win – 9/2
