Monday 3 February 2014

When Mourinho last took Chelsea to face City, CITY XI worth just £13.5m (but tonight Pellegrini's starting XI will be worth £160m!)

Almost seven years after his last visit to Manchester City, Jose Mourinho takes Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium tonight to face an altogether different challenge.
In 2007 Chelsea were the side splashing millions on the world's best players, winning trophies and challenging for European glory.
Fast-forward to the present day and, while Chelsea are still one of England's elite, City now compete on a level playing field after vast investment from billionaire owner Sheik Mansour.

The hosts will include some of the biggest - and most expensive - names in football in their line-up on Monday evening but things were very different for manager Stuart Pearce when the Special One last came to town.
Unlike current boss Manuel Pellegrini, who has a wealth of talent at his disposal, Pearce fielded a team made up of academy players and bargain buys as the visitors ran out 1-0 winners courtesy of Frank Lampard's first-half penalty.
Pearce's side cost just £13.5million, a stark contrast to the likely £160m starting XI who will look to leapfrog Arsenal and regain top spot in the Premier League at the Etihad.

City went on to finish 14th in 2007, a massive 41 points behind Chelsea who ended the season in second behind Manchester United.
Brazilian midfielder Elano finished as the club's top scorer with just eight goals. In comparison Sergio Aguero, who joined City from Atletico Madrid for £38million in 2011, has already found the back of the net 15 times in the league this season (and 26 in all competitions).
Although his players battled to a hard-fought 1-0 victory in his last away game against City, Mourinho will be well aware of the task his side face against Pellegrini's free-scoring side.


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