Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund: Five key players for City

Vincent Kompany

Manchester City have taken a lot of stick during the early part of the season for having a leaky defence. Captain Vincent Kompany was one of the most consistent players at the club last season and he has a big role to play, especially in Europe. Dortmund are one of the highest scoring teams away from home in Germany this season, they have scored six goals in three games so Kompany has to keep the defence watertight to guard against the counter attack.

Gael Clichy

There is no doubt over Clichy’s defensive talent but he is lightweight compared to some other players in his position. Dortmund are going to look to attack down the sides of the City team because this is where they have been vulnerable this season. Not only does Clichy need to get forward and support the attacks, he has to keep the left side of the City team firm and secure. The second he feels vulnerable and drifts in towards the centre backs is the second Dortmund might whip in a cross and score.

Yaya Toure

Similar to Kompany in the respect that he was one of the club’s most important players last season. Toure has not been doing enough this season to make his presence felt in the City midfield. Toure is also vital for City when it comes to breaking up the opposition attacks because Nigel De Jong has left the club. If Toure focuses in staying up the pitch in attack then there will be acres of space behind him for the Dortmund strikers to drop deep, get the ball and then move forward.

Samir Nasri

It’s a toss up between Nasri and David Silva at the moment as to who is given the role of creative midfield player to setup the attacks and help to create chances to score goals. David Silva has been off the pace in the last few games which maybe suggests that Nasri will be given the nod. If he does then he needs to link the midfield and attack by doing all of the simple things. If Nasri focuses on sensible and short passing to key players then it will be a matter of time before he scores or before he sets someone up to score.

Sergio Aguero

Aguero has struggled in the Premier League so far this season because defenders have been extra physical against him. He’ll have to play the Messi role at times by pulling off the defenders to get the ball before turning to goal. If he sticks on the defensive line in the same way that Carlos Tevez does then the Dortmund defenders will just brush him aside, counter tackle him or move forward to intercept the through balls.

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