In early November a poll was cast on mancityfans.net to ascertain the level of confidence of the fans with regards to winning trophies. The results showed that out of 137 votes only 8 predicted Manchester City would finish the 2011-12 season trophyless. Conversely, 6 posters thought City was good enough to lift the Champions League trophy. With the Champions League dream over and exits from the FA and League Cup, the silverware dream relies on success in the Premiership and Europa League.
Porto suffered a similar fate. A third placed group finish against relatively weak opposition relegated the Dragons from Europe’s premier competition leaving it to defend the trophy it won last season.
A little about Porto. Their fans are called dragons and it takes 52,000 of them to fill their ground Estadio do Dragao. Just as England had a big 4, Portugal has a Big 3. Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica. Although Benfica has won more national titles, Porto has won the most trophies and has been more successful in European competition. In short, the club has a pedigree of success.
This was more than apparent last season. Under the guidance of now Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas, the dragons went through the season winning a domestic double and the Europa League, losing only in the third round of the League Cup. After all that success, something had to give and AVB was snapped up by Chelsea. However, the entire backroom staff remained giving it stability. Falcao was the only player sold and new manager Vitor Pereira spent 43 million euros strengthening the side.
However, the new signings haven’t gelled quite as quickly as the club would have hoped and the club are currently in second place;5 points adrift of undefeated Benfica. And whilst Benfica qualified top of their Champions League group, Porto weren’t as successful succumbing to APOEL and Zenit St Petersburg. Despite this the club are more than worthy opponents with many dangerous players.
Two players of note are Hulk and Joao Moutinho. Hulk (nicknamed because he looks like actor Lou Ferringo who played the TV character) primarily plays on the right wing but can also operate as a striker. Moutinho is the player who pulls the strings in midfield. Although he doesn’t score many Moutinho has improved his assist rate over the years and controls the tempo of games with a wide range of passing.
City will be in a rare position for this game as there is no weekend match to juggle players for. The Toure Brothers will meet up with the team in Porto and may even be in contention for a start. Even Carlos Tevez is so keen to play in this match he flew back from Argentina to put his name in the hat. However, it’s doubtful he’ll be selected. Roberto loves to rotate his fullbacks so with Kolarov and Zabaleta starting against Aston Villa one would expect Clichy and Richards to begin in this game. This represents a turnaround in selection from Mancini as Kolarov and Zabaleta were consistent starters in the Champions League. If one accepts that Clichy/Richards is the stronger of the pairings then perhaps this is a statement of intent?
Odds. Porto. 2.62 Draw 3.35 Man City 2.50 When the odds are this tight the draw looks a likely bet.
