The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which has witnessed some huge cricket matches, will stand host to Manchester City and Roma as the two elite teams clash in the 2015 International Champions Cup on Tuesday.
Roma have already played in the venue earlier in the competition as they defeated heavyweights Real Madrid via penalties. The final score read 7-6. After defeating Melbourne United in their friendly, Manchester City will also be a confident unit as they look to take on Roma. With both teams upbeat after their recent victories, a mouth-watering clash awaits everyone at the MCG.
Though both the teams are gradually preparing for their domestic competition, it will not deter them from playing some quality football, as victory in such matches gives the team the much-needed confidence before the start of the season.
Roma might take this game even more seriously for it was Manchester City, who knocked them out of the Champions League last season.
The Italian giants are a strong side and with players such as Miralem Pjanic and Francesco Totti at their disposal, Manchester City are aware of the fact that they have to bring their top game at the MCG to defeat Roma.
The mega summer signing for Manchester City, Raheem Sterling, has been grabbing most of the headlines in the lead up to their International Champions Cup and it is time for City to unleash the player in City's blue.
City's manager Manuel Pellegrini is also expected to provide some minutes on the pitch to Sterling so that he understands the style in which the club play.
"I know him [Sterling] because he played against us for the last two seasons but I think that it is important for him to try to have some minutes with our team as soon as he can," Fox Sports quoted Pelligrini as saying.
"I know the way he has played at Liverpool. It's different, of course, when he's working with our squad, but he's a very young player with a lot of ambition and for me that's very important."
Apart from Sterling, the crowd at the MCG will want to see the best from other Manchester City players such as David Silva and Yaya Toure as well.
The ground conditions at MCG have not been well received by City, though, after Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez was left disappointed for the same reason. Despite such concerns, expect the game to be a cracker between two big teams in Europe.
The Real Madrid vs Roma clash attracted more than 80,000 fans to the venue and a similar number is expected to roll out on Tuesday as well.
Where to Watch Live
The Manchester City vs Roma mega clash is set for a 8pm local time (3:30pm IST, 11am BST, 6am ET) start with live coverage in India on Star Sports 2/HD with live streaming on Starsports.com.
Viewers in the UK can watch the game live on Sky Sports1/HD with live streaming on Sky Go., while US viewers can catch the action of the Manchester City vs Roma match at MCG on Fox Sports and ESPN Deportes (Spanish commentary) with live streaming options on FoxSoccer2Go and Watch ESPN.
Those viewers in Australia, who could not get tickets for the mega clash, can catch the action from their couch on Gem.
