SKN St. Pölten meets Manchester City: a duel between the giants

SKN St. Pölten meets Manchester City: a duel between the giants

The SKN St. Pölten faces a major challenge in the women's football champions League. On October 18 at 6:45 p.m., the team will meet Manchester City, the runner -up from England and current leaders. This encounter is transferred live to DAZN. After a pointless start in Group D, the game in the Generali Arena in Vienna will be a particularly high hurdle for the Lower Austrians.

The team of Manchester City comes to the Viennese arena with plenty of confidence. A few days ago, the team achieved an impressive 2-0 win against the defending champion FC Barcelona. This historical success has given the players additional self -confidence and increased their expectations of the upcoming appearance.

The strengths of Manchester City

A key to success for City is the record goalkeeper Khadija Shaw. The 27-year-old Jamaican scored an incredible 77 goals in 89 competitive games, making her one of the most feared strikers in Europe. St. Pölten's trainer Liese Brancao emphasizes that it is important to get Shaw under control, but you also have to keep an eye on the other dangerous players.

City has a strong offensive team with players like Lauren Hemp, Vivianne Miedema and Chloe Kelly. The defensive of St. Pölten will therefore be challenged, and Brancao is aware that the task becomes extremely difficult. Nevertheless, she does not see the possibility of a point profit as completely excluded as long as her team caught a "dream day" and Manchester put on a weaker appearance.

"We need a lot of courage and tactical discipline," explains Brancao. "We have to find a balanced mix of defensive play and high pressing. Respect for the opponent is important, but fear is too much." Already this season, her team lost only once, namely at the Swedish champion Hammarby. Otherwise you only had to accept a 0-0 draw in the league against Bergheim.

the view of the encounter

Manchester City coach Gareth Taylor cannot be influenced by the outside view that the game has already been won. He reminds that St. Pölten played on an equal footing against Hammarby for a long time and even had chances of equalizing. Taylor is confident that his team can win the game if it maintains the intensity of the last game. "In the Champions League you shouldn't underestimate an opponent," he warns.

The question remains open whether City will compete in the best line -up. However, Brancao is convinced that the English squad is strong enough to remain competitive with various constellations. The St. Pöltner women have to prepare well, as they spend the night after the final training in Vienna on Tuesday to compete in the best possible way on Wednesday. Brancao was miserably commented on the lack of a home game: "It is extremely a shame that we cannot play at home."

In the past encounter of Champions League history, the two teams met in October 2017, with Manchester City winning both games 3-0. The women from St. Pölten are therefore warned and go into the game with the will to give everything despite the enormous challenge and maybe create one or two surprises.