Manchester City will walk out into the Promised Land of the Champions League on Wednesday - and TEAMtalk is relishing their competition debut.
Owner Sheikh Mansour has spent in the region of £1billion rejuvenating the club, the stadium and surrounding area and, most importantly, its squad. Almost half of his financial outlay has been on the playing staff in order to catapult City into Europe's elite. On Wednesday night, he gets to find out whether it has been worth it. Of course, making Roberto Mancini's side competitive in the Premier League has been a crucial factor but, like Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, the lure of the Champions League is greater. Not only does it offer the club the kudos they have been lacking, and adds the credibility which makes their spending power go even further when it comes to the world's top players, it also opens up a whole new opportunity in terms of their global profile.
Italian side Napoli provide the opposition at the Etihad Stadium. They may not represent the upper echelon of Europe's glamour clubs - that comes later in the form of Bayern Munich - but will pose a challenge for City. But it is a challenge which is far from insurmountable, considering the resources Mancini has at his disposal. The Italian was able to leave more than £70million-worth of talent on the bench as they coasted to a 3-0 victory over Wigan on Saturday. Among the substitutes was Edin Dzeko, the £27million striker signed in January who has scored seven goals in four games. He had to watch as City's new £38million golden boy Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick to take his tally to six in four. The possibilities do appear to be endless for City if Mancini can keep everyone happy with squad rotation.
When the Champions League anthem rings out at the Etihad Stadium, it will be heralding another landmark in the City history books. And having lit up the start of the domestic campaign with their attacking football, Mancini will hope they are on-song in Europe as well.
