KOMPANY BACKS CITY & UNITED

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Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany says that he believes that the club can overcome a 2-0 deficit on aggregate against Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night. City were extremely poor in the first leg at the Etihad stadium, but they now face the prospect of finishing the season with only one trophy if they do not recover against Barcelona. This is after they were knocked out of the FA Cup during the weekend by Wigan. City have been struggling for form in recent weeks and it has also been the case with Barcelona.

The Catalan outfit have not only suffered three defeats in the last six league matches, but they have also surrendered their six-point lead over Real Madrid around the Christmas period to go four points below their arch rivals. Hence, Barcelona also come in with a similar situation to that of City, but Kompany feels that his team has enough firepower to cause Barcelona problems early on in the match. He says that scoring an early goal will be the key to City’s recovery. Despite scoring goals for fun earlier in the season, City’s strikers have not found the back of the net in almost 1000 minutes.

Edin Dzeko, who is likely to start, has not scored in more than 400 minutes of football.

“I’m looking at the strikers we have – Aguero, Negredo, Dzeko – and I will tell you one thing, I’m just really happy. I’m trying to focus on the fact that we have firepower at the front. If everything goes well we can hurt Barcelona. We attack and defend as a team. If we score, we have a chance. We’ve done it before. It’s a one off, yes – but football is made out of nights like this,” said Kompany.

INKOOM ON LOAN

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Ghana’s Samuel Inkoom has completed the loan move to Greek club Platanias in order to get regular first-team football, which he found it difficult to get at his current club, Dnipro. He has been at the Ukrainian outfit for the last 18 months, but former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos has used very sparingly. As a result, he has moved to Platanias since first-team football is extremely important for him in the next six months. This is because he has to play regularly to get a place in the Ghana National team, who have qualified for the World Cup 2014.

Ghana are expected to be one of the dark horses at this tournament, but they face the prospect of a very difficult group stage. The African team has been grouped alongside Brazil, Portugal, and the United States. Brazil and Portugal will be regarded as the outright favourites to qualify for the next round, while United States have also done well in recent major tournaments. They were surprisingly good in the Confederations cup 2013. Hence, Ghana boss Akwasi Appiah is expected to name the best squad – players who play regular football at the top level.

Inkoom says that he is hoping that the move to the Greek club pays off since he will not only it into the Ghana team, but may also secure a transfer elsewhere.

“I am so happy and relieved,It’s a dream come through. I am ready to give off my best to prepare me for the months ahead. Let me focus on club duties first and after we can talk about the World Cup. I am most grateful to God for this opportunity. I am going to make good use of it,” said the defender. Platanias will be hoping that the arrival of this quality player will help them move up the table.