Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester City take the buzz to FC Timisoara for Europa League tie
Debut: Mario Balotelli is likely to start tonight[LNB]As the world's richest club pulled into the dusty car park at the Dan Paltinisanu Stadium last night, to the annoyance of the FC Timisoara youth coaches, the young charges simply stopped playing in mid-session and abandoned the ball.[LNB] A small group of players in luminous tops peeled away and tried to peer through the ruins of a concrete stand on their training ground to catch a glimpse of the procession of millionaires descending from Manchester City's fittingly bright blue bus. [LNB]There is a buzz about City that is spreading across the globe. Adam Johnson would have recognised such a difficult surface from his days in the Teesside league and Carlos Tevez would have called it a luxury when he was a kid. But the barren and uneven surface looks a challenge to any player. [LNB]Across the car park, around 100 spectators, and only a handful wearing the familiar blue of City, had gathered to see manager Roberto Mancini emerge on a balmy night to lead his players into the neat stadium which was completed just 10 years ago and holds just over 30,000. [LNB]Named after a former player from the Fifties, tonight the big-time stars from the Barclays Premier League will face opponents only eight years old, but who are already Romania's best-supported club. [LNB]Here in the 'City of Flowers' - named after its numerous and beautiful parks, gardens and tree-lined paths - lurks a raging Romanian monster. And City must be careful that they do not become the biggest scalp in Timisoara's embryonic history.[LNB] City slickers: The players practice ahead of tonight's European clash [LNB] Mancini said: 'They have played two Europa League games and four games in their championship but we have only played one game in the Premier League. This is another important point and difference. We will have to play well.' [LNB]Their hosts are not without a penny or two themselves. Owner Marian Iancu is the president of Balkan Petroleum who has bankrolled the club since their inception in this city. And he has promised €100,000 per man (£82,000) if they can overcome City over the two legs of this play-off. [LNB]Enlarge Mancini is aware of the dangers facing his team tonight and he istaking seriously the threat of the side which knocked Shakhtar Donetskout of the Champions League qualifiers a year ago. [LNB]Timisoara is the city where the Romanian ant i -Communist revolution started, and where dictator Nicolae Ceausescu tried in vain to suppress his people with the military before he was eventually executed. [LNB]Manchester City's own revolution will continue in this city tonight and Mancini is so concerned by the threat of the hosts, and by his team's disjointed and unconvincing display at Tottenham on Saturday, that he will field his strongest side.[LNB] Nobody, and that includes goalkeeper Joe Hart, will be rested or rotated. That would mean £23m signing Mario Balotelli would make his debut. [LNB]The Europa League may be a bind for teams who must compete in it, particularly with the inconvenience of playing so many Thursday and Sunday matches, but Mancini says he is in it to win it. [LNB]He said: 'This is a very important competition for the players, supporters and me. We're in four competitions and we want to win them all. We can't think we can play for one trophy and not another, we have to change our mentality and play to win every single one. [LNB]'I don't know if we are favourites. The first game is always difficult and I have watched Timisoara's last game and they played very well at home and they will want to win.' [LNB]Enlarge Tevez's last European match was the small matter of the Champions League final with Manchester United in Rome two years ago. The City captain was sporting a thick blue woolly hat in his press conference last night, which was definitely not required in the stifling atmosphere of the media room, nor in Timisoara where temperatures yesterday reached 34 degrees Celsius.[LNB] But sitting beside his manager, speaking in a combination of English and Spanish, the Argentina striker looked relaxed and content, and is yet another Premier League player ready to put the disappointment of the World Cup behind him. [LNB]Although Tevez urged City fans to give Mancini's multi-million pound squad time to gel, he said: 'I was disillusioned after the World Cup, because we thought we might achieve more. Now I hope I can win something with Manchester City.[LNB] 'Obviously we have only been together for two weeks and it is not easy to get to know each other in that amount of time. But they are all great players and I hope the fans give us patience and we can become a good team.'[LNB] Ireland relishing fresh start at Villa after completing move from CityJames Milner seals his £26m switch from Aston Villa to Manchester CityHart holds off Given for Man City No 1 spot for Europa clash with TimisoaraMANCHESTER CITY FC
