Man City - Napoli: A sumptuous feast at Etihad

(Baonghean.vn) - Coach Pep Guardiola and his team will welcome the team that is "making waves" in Serie A - Napoli at home in the 3rd round of the Champions League group stage. This clash promises to bring fans a magnificent feast of attacking football.

Traveling to the “foggy land”, the Italian team brought with them an impressive performance on all fronts since the beginning of the season. After the first 8 rounds of Serie A, coach Maurizio Sarri and his team are on a winning streak and are currently occupying the number 1 position on the rankings.

In the top 5 European championships (Serie A, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Lique 1), Napoli is the only team to have achieved a perfect score so far. The attack with stars like Insigne, Hamsik, Mertens, Callejon... is causing terror to the defense of every team.

25 goals after 8 rounds (average 3.12 goals/match). Not inferior to the teammates in the front line, the defense including: goalkeeper Pepe Reina, the central defender duo Albiol - Koulibaly... are also showing admirable solidity. 5 goals conceded/8 matches (average 0.6 goals/match), enough to see the excellence of Pepe Reina and his teammates.

The victims who fell under the boots of the army led by coach Maurizio Sarri were not ordinary. Typically, AS Roma (1 - 0), Lazio Roma (4 - 1) are 2 teams standing at 4th and 5th place on the rankings and have quite strong forces. It is worth mentioning that both victories that Napoli won took place at the Olympico stadium in the capital city of Rome.

Napoli players celebrate after their victory over AS Roma at the Olympico Stadium. Photo: Internet

However, in the Champions League, the Naples team has a completely different side. The 1-2 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the opening match of the most prestigious European club tournament was not only a low note in Napoli's epic symphony, but also exposed their "weakness" every time they compete in the Champions League.

Although Napoli have been in the Serie A title race in recent years, the San Paolo outfit have failed to progress far in European competitions. Last season, for example, Napoli were eliminated by Real Madrid in the knockout round, with a 6-2 aggregate score after two matches.

Simply put, in the domestic league, Napoli is the tiger, in the continental arena they are the cat. The 1-2 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk and the rather difficult victory against the team considered the weakest in the group - Feyenoord (3-1), are clear proof.

Having to play away against the powerful team Man City, a bleak prospect awaits coach Maurizio Sarri and his team at Etihad Stadium.

Although they do not have the same "invincible" record in the domestic league as Napoli, Man City are still holding the number 1 position in the Premier League table and are showing their terrible strength. Except for the 1-1 draw with Everton at the beginning of the season, the Etihad team is going through a series of matches that only know how to win and win.

Man City just crushed Stoke City with a score of 7-2 in round 8 of the Premier League. Photo: Internet

9 consecutive wins on all fronts (Premier League, Champions League, English League Cup), scoring 34 goals (average 3.7 goals/match), only conceding 4 goals (average 0.4 goals/match).

In the Champions League alone, coach Pep Guardiola and his team won 6 absolute points against Feyenoord (4-0) and Shakhtar Donetsk (2-0). That is more than enough to clearly see the terrible strength of Man City.

Despite the reception of Napoli, coach Pep Guardiola could not field the world's most expensive defender - Mendy, due to injury, victory seemed to be difficult to escape from the hands of De Bruyne and his teammates.

With home advantage and a much better squad, Man City will have all 3 points again. Especially, the main striker Aguero can play from the start, after a period of rest to recover from injury.

The match at Etihad Stadium at 1:45 a.m. on October 18 (Vietnam time) between Man City and Napoli is a sumptuous feast of attacking football./.

Thanh Hung