Antoine Semenyo’s eight-week injury absence leads the latest City news as Enzo Maresca prepares his side for Tuesday night’s Champions League meeting with AEK Athens.
City have also learned their match officials for the Etihad fixture, while several familiar names could feature for the Greek champions. Away from the pitch, there have been further developments and reaction surrounding the club’s appeal against the findings in its Premier League financial case.
Here is the latest from Read Man City.
Semenyo ruled out for eight weeks
The biggest news of the day came from Maresca’s pre-match media duties, with the City boss confirming that Semenyo is expected to be sidelined for around eight weeks.
The forward had emerged as the principal fitness concern following Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Ipswich and his absence is a significant setback. Semenyo has appeared in all seven of City’s Premier League matches this season, starting six, with two goals and three assists.
There was better news elsewhere. Maresca said the rest of his recent fitness concerns were “more or less all OK”, providing encouragement over Erling Haaland, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly.
Read the full story: Semenyo ruled out for eight weeks in major Man City injury blow
City prepare for first meeting with AEK Athens
Attention now turns to the Champions League, with AEK visiting the Etihad on Tuesday evening.
The match kicks off at 8pm BST and will be shown live in the UK on TNT Sports 1. French referee Willy Delajod will take charge, with Belgium’s Bram Van Driessche on VAR.
It will be City’s 150th match in the European Cup or Champions League proper and their first competitive meeting with AEK. Maresca’s side have three points from their opening two league-phase matches after beating Porto 2-0 before losing 4-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain.
Familiar faces in the AEK squad
AEK will provide new opposition for City, although several members of their squad will be familiar to followers of European football.
Former Real Madrid and AC Milan striker Luka Jovic is the headline name, while Croatia international Lovro Majer and Romania midfielder Razvan Marin have considerable experience at international and club level. Hungary striker Barnabas Varga and Euro 2016 winner Joao Mario are other recognisable figures who could be involved.
Read the full story: Five familiar AEK Athens stars Man City could face in Champions League clash
City also have an impressive record against Greek opposition. Their four previous matches have brought three victories and a draw, without conceding a goal, against Aris and Olympiacos.
Carragher calls for multi-year punishment if appeal fails
City’s ongoing Premier League appeal has meanwhile continued to generate debate.
Jamie Carragher believes the club should face a punishment lasting between three and five years if the independent commission’s findings are upheld on appeal.
Those are Carragher’s proposals rather than an indication of any eventual sanction. No final punishment has been determined and City continue to deny wrongdoing, arguing that the commission’s opinion contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact” and is unsafe.
Read the full story: Carragher calls for multi-year Man City punishment if appeal fails
Sports lawyer explains City’s appeal hurdle
Sports lawyer James Severn has also assessed what City must establish if they are to overturn or vary the commission’s decision.
Severn says the club will need to demonstrate a material error of law, principle or fact, or serious procedural unfairness which materially affected the original decision.
He also discussed the possible importance of bank statements, government records and contemporaneous payment documents understood to form part of City’s case, while cautioning that the task would be more difficult if the commission had already considered that evidence before reaching its findings.
Read the full story: Sports lawyer identifies key hurdle facing Man City in Premier League appeal
Leese backs City over Premier League
Former Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese has also made his position clear.
Leese, a City supporter and honorary president of the club, criticised what he described as an “opaque” process before saying that, when asked whether he believed the football club or the Premier League, he believed City.
His comments represent the personal view of someone with longstanding links to the club rather than an independent assessment of the merits of City’s appeal.
Read the full story: Sir Richard Leese makes emphatic Man City claim after Premier League ruling
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