Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is convinced that this is the season that City will make a lasting mark on the Champions League but they face a Juventus side who might be winless this season so far but won Serie A for the fourth time in a row in the summer.
The Belgian defender returned to training early this season in a bid to improve his own form and was certainly glad that he wasn’t the only one from City’s squad to do so.
The hard work put in early in the current campaign alongside a strengthening of the squad to include elite players such as Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne points to possible success this season but the Kompany has remained cautious:
“Early signs would say so but experience teaches us to be careful with those kinds of statements – we’ll see.” he said.
If City are to match the exploits of European giants such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, Kompany echoed his manager Manuel Pellegrini’s earlier comments about squad strength and the pressure to succeed.
“Those teams were not just the best because they have the better badge or better colours.
“They are the best because their players have had the chance to work in a squad for so many years, they have had their academies putting in talented players into the first teams and they have always attracted the best players.
“Now we can attract players like Sterling and De Bruyne we are certainly a step closer but ultimately we must prove this on the pitch.
“[Clubs like Barca] have a huge depth in the squad and people forget this sometimes.
“People want to show to us how much money has been spent but that’s not what it’s about.
“It’s about who has the best squad to cope with all the competitions.
“It seems like clubs like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have been able to field such strong squads over the whole season for all competitions that it’s given them an advantage.
“Again closing the gap is about making sure those differences don’t exist any more in the future.”
What looked at the start of the season like a tough group may have become slightly easier on paper for City after both Juventus and Borussia Monchengladbach’s poor starts to their respective domestic seasons but Kompany was adamant that City still had to prove themselves in Europe.
He said: “It’s the same as what people have been saying for the last three or four years.
“As long as we don’t perform, sure our quality in the Champions League as we’ve done in the Premier League, there will always be something left behind that leaves us unsatisfied.
“[Juventus] is a really important game for us and we’ve been looking forward to the start of this competition since the disappointing game in Barcelona last year.
“I don’t think there’s a day without pressure at this club anyway, every game has got massive pressure. There was a lot of pressure in the last game against Crystal Palace for example.
“You never know which game will turn out to be the hardest. Tomorrow’s game is one that everyone will be really up for and I guess it takes away some of the pressure at this level. Everyone knows Juve are a strong team so they’re ready for it.”
Five wins from five in the Premier League, with no goals conceded, have left City at the pinnacle of Premier League having won their 11th game in a row since last season, and Kompany was keen to use their domestic momentum to make a fresh start in a competition that hasn’t always been kind to them.
Kompany said: “When you start the way we have done the best thing to do is to focus on yourself.
“It’s about finding the confidence we have in the Premier League and bringing it into the Champions League as well.
“I don’t think this season is the same type of season for us. If we’re not confident before tomorrow then we’ll never be confident after what we’ve done so far.
“I guess the same goes for what we’ve experienced in the Premier League this year. We’re really determined and really hungry because we’ve been been frustrated from last season.
“The same goes for the Champions League. We’re frustrated from many seasons before – we need to take that anger, desire and energy into tomorrow’s game which is so important.”
Indifferent performances in Europe and exits to Barcelona in the last 16 for the last two seasons have left City with a poor record in Europe considering their transfer spending, but it’s a record that Kompany believes that City can turn around after this season’s fine start.
“We’ve not handled most of our games in the Champions League well. You can talk about balance or whatever but performances were just down.
“I think that except for maybe two years ago even in the group stages we struggled quite a few times. The Dortmund game and those kind of games were a different era. Last season, against Moscow at home, we were disappointing as well.
“What happened last season needs to be used as a lesson. We have a good team, and we should always believe in ourselves before the game starts. That’s a basic that this team needs to do, especially in the Champions League.” added Kompany.