Manchester
City captain Vincent Kompany could return from a groin injury as his side begin
their Champions League campaign against little-known Czech side Plzen.
Kompany has
been absent since his side's 4-0 win over Newcastle in their Premier League
opener on 19 August.
Fellow defender Martin Demichelis, signed from
Atletico Madrid in September, is out with a knee injury.
“We will see if Vincent Kompany is 100%. If he is, of
course he will play. ”
Manuel
Pellegrini Man City manager
David Silva,
Gael Clichy and Micah Richards are all doubtful.
"Vincent
has worked with us normally for the last two days," said City manager
Manuel Pellegrini on Monday. "We will see if he is 100%. If he is, of
course he will play.
"We
will talk with the doctor and decide. I think he will be 100%, but if he is not
he will not play.
"We
have a very important match but we have other players if any are not
100%."
Plzen are
top of the Czech league with six wins in their opening eight games and beat
Slovenian side Maribor in a play-off to earn a second Champions League
appearance in three years.
In 2011 they finished third in a group containing
Barcelona and AC Milan, scoring two late goals to draw 2-2 with Milan in their final game in the competition.
Pellegrini
has warned his side that they cannot afford to take their opponents lightly, citing
his own success in taking unfancied Malaga to the quarter-finals last season.
"It
would be a big mistake to think that playing a team with less history in Europe
would be easier to play," he said.
"Last
season when the draw took place AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg were happy to
be drawn against Malaga and they felt they'd already qualified for the next
round.
"It has
been three years now that the club hasn't done well in Europe, and I think that
if we want to qualify, we have to respect Viktoria Plzen, CSKA Moscow, and
Bayern Munich the same way, and will try to put in our best performance to beat
them."
His Plzen
counterpart Pavel Vrba promised that there would be no lack of application from
his side either. "Manchester City is one of the top clubs in the world and
we are aware that we will not go into the match as favourites,"
"I am
quite sure they won't be scared of us, but we are determined to fight for every
inch of ground."
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