Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has responded to Francesco Farioli after the FC Porto manager pointed out the Etihad Stadium club's summer spending totals during his own pre-match assessments.
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The Premier League begin their latest adventure in European competition under new management for the first time since the 2016/17 season, with Enzo Maresca succeeding Pep Guardiola prior to the ongoing campaign.
City have not won the competition since their Treble success of 2022/23, although many supporters will be keen to point out that that triumph was also the last time Maresca was involved with the club - seated as Guardiola's assistant coach in the dugout.
Now, City enter into their latest run in Europe's premier club competition off the back of a bright start to their new managerial era, winning their opening three Premier League matches of the brand new campaign against Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, and Coventry.
The first of eight matches across the league phase - four at the Etihad Stadium and four away from home - comes in Portugal, with a clash against the reigning champions of the country in FC Porto; a side currently on a run of six wins from their opening six matches.
Maresca responds to Farioli over €500M spend comments
Speaking ahead of Manchester City's Tuesday night encounter in Porto, Enzo Maresca was made aware of comments made by his managerial counterpart Francesco Farioli and his mentioning of the Premier League side's approximate €500 million spend in the summer.
Quizzed on whether such words should be perceived as an attempt to put the pressure on Manchester City, Maresca responded, "This is a question for Francesco. From my point of view, it's not pressure, it's a privilege."
Discussing the quality that Manchester City face from FC Porto, Maresca said, "I know that they are very good on set-pieces, I think it's become part of the game now.
"So we need to do our best, defend in the right way, score goals as much as we can from set-pieces, and now you need to be perfect because all teams are prepared for that."
How many new City signings could feature in Porto?
Manchester City have travelled to Porto with all of their major first-team summer signings in attendance as part of a 22-man travelling squad list confirmed to supporters on Monday afternoon.
Geronimo Rulli acts as back-up goalkeeper, whilst there is also Ayyoub Bouaddi, Enzo Fernandez, and Elliot Anderson all in attendance within the midfield ranks, as well as Iliman Ndiaye and Allan as part of the forward reinforcements from the summer.
The latter is still looking for his first matchday squad appearance since joining from Palmeiras in the final week of the recently-concluded summer transfer window, missing the weekend's 1-0 win over Coventry City owing to a shortage of sufficient match fitness.
Allan Elias missed out on Manchester City's recent clash with Coventry City on Saturday afternoon owing to a lack of match fitness.cityxtra.co.ukSources: Allan Fitness Update Ahead of Potential Man City Debut
Allan Elias missed out on Manchester City's recent clash with Coventry City on Saturday afternoon owing to a lack of match fitness.