AS Roma vs Manchester City preview - Garcia: City clash like 'cup final'

Posted Wednesday, December 10, 2014 by PA

Roma coach Rudi Garcia claims his side's decisive Champions League Group E clash against Manchester City has the feel of a final.

The Italians can claim victory in what has been a tight three-way battle for the runners-up spot in the group with City and CSKA Moscow by beating the English champions at the Stadio Olimpico.

But it is certain to be a night of high tension with all three teams going into the crunch final round of fixtures locked on five points and with little margin for error.

Anything less than victory would open for the door for CSKA or City to nip in and join Bayern Munich in the last 16.

Garcia said: "We need to make the most of every moment. We're looking to pull it off, a win would be incredible.

"We know that City are a good side and it will be very tough tomorrow but I'm sure we can do it. Every match is important but tomorrow's is special because it's like a cup final.

"We should have been out of the running by this stage because we were in the fourth (seedings) pot and yet we're still in the hunt.

"The fact that we are still in the race means that we have quality. Credit to us that we still have the chance to play this cup final in front of our fans at a passionate Olimpico."

City striker Sergio Aguero, meanwhile, could be absent for four to six weeks due to knee ligament damage, manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed.

The prolific Argentina international, who has scored 19 goals for the champions this season, was injured in the opening minutes of City's 1-0 Barclays Premier League defeat of Everton on Saturday.

Speaking in Italy ahead of the Roma game, Pellegrini offered the forecast on Aguero's likely recovery period, saying the striker had undergone a scan.

Pellegrini added, however, that he could not be exact with the timescale.

When asked about the condition of Aguero, Pellegrini said in a press conference: "Well Sergio - we know he is injured. He cannot play tomorrow.

"He will see how long he will be out, but I think it is more important for us to think about the players we have available for an important game against Roma."

Pellegrini was then asked whether he was unclear about the duration Aguero would be out of action, to which he said: "We know, but it is difficult to know exactly how long he will be injured.

"It could be four, five or six weeks. It depends a lot on the way he recovers."