1. Goals, goals, goals!
Manchester City has conceded in 17 of their last 18 UCL matches, while no team have ever kept Sevilla scoreless in their 12 matches at home in the competition.
But don’t think it’ll just be Joe Hart who will be called into action. Manchester City have scored the most goals in the Premier League – 26 in 11 games and 68% of City’s passes have been in the opposition’s half – a Champions League high.
2. Sevilla have a habit of upsetting the big teams – especially at home
Sevilla have not lost at home in the group stage of the Champions League – winning six and drawing one. Meanwhile in La Liga this season they beat last season’s UCL winners – Barcelona 2-1, which also happened to be the team that knocked City out of the Champions League. Real Madrid also lost at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium last year.
3. Referendum on the EPL
Despite a huge financial advantage, the Premier League clubs have struggled in recent seasons in Europe. This season collectively they have five wins, two draws and five losses.
Messi's magical nutmegsYaya Touré on Leo Messi"Last year in the dressing room Messi jokingly said he will nutmeg me. I saw him nutmeg two of my teammates and I thought he’d do it to me. Whenever he came near me I screamed inside 'please not me, don’t nutmeg me'. I was afraid he’d embarrass me in front of my family.“Click on the link at the end of the vid to read the full fascinating interview, including stories of Carlos Tévez not training. Posted by SBS The World Game on Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Manchester City will hope Manuel Pellegrini, who spent a lot of his time in Spain with Real Madrid, Villarreal and Malaga, will be able to navigate a win in Seville.
But City have lost their last three matches in Spain. If the EPL wishes to prove their claim as the best league in the world their clubs must start winning in Europe.
4. Clash of economic/philosophical styles
Some are building this as Moneyball v Multi-millions. While Manchester City have spent most of the past seven years buying some of the best talent in the world, even at an inflated value, Sevilla have made over $307 million from selling on players in the last 15 years.
De Bruyne's late winnerKevin De Bruyne wins it for Manchester City FC in the last minute. Watch all the UEFA Champions League highlights by clicking on the 'watch more' link at the end of the video. Posted by SBS The World Game on Wednesday, 21 October 2015
City spent $329 million on new players this transfer window, whereas Sevilla spent just $30 million. Sevilla’s director of football Monchi has sold for a profit the likes of Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves, Ivan Rakitic, Alberto Moreno and Jesus Navas.
5. Navas returns home
Jesus Navas will play against his boyhood club for the first time since leaving them in 2013.
For many years Navas was Sevilla’s most exciting player. The pacey winger would create chance after chance in a spell that saw the club win two Europa Leagues in three seasons.
Offers came flying in from Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as the EPL. But Navas rejected them to stay in his hometown.
In fact at one stage Navas’ susceptibility to home sickness threatened his future with the national team after he walked out of a training camp because it was too far away from Sevilla.
Eventually he overcame his anxiety, and now he returns home in red-hot form having created 21 chances this season.
