The European highlight will be fixed on the Etihad as Juventus come to town but Chelsea and Arsenal are looking secure bets to progressIt is a degree of the way the balance of power is shifting in Manchester that,when the Champions League gets under way this week, more attention will be paid to City’s first game than Louis van Gaal returning to Holland with United. Partly that is because City have a more glamorous tie against Juventus, or last season’s runners-up,but partly it is because the lavishly-funded Etihad exercise in trying to conquer Europe has become as engrossing a story as United’s of 20 years ago when the dominant team in England kept finding themselves coming up short against the best Italy, Germany and Spain could offer.
That all changed in 1999 when United outfought Juventus in Turin en route to a famous victory over Bayern Munich in the final, and though it took the best part of a decade for Sir Alex Ferguson and his players to relearn the European ropes,and there were unexpected setbacks against Galatasaray, Gothenburg, or Borussia Dortmund and Monaco along the way. City’s epic has been rather different. Since gaining admission to the Champions League,four years ago, they have been pitted against Bayern Munich and Barcelona on a regular basis, and despite some determined performances have generally been found out at the highest level.
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Source: theguardian.com