City prepare to take on Hamburg in UEFA Europa League

Manchester City have everything to play for as they prepare to take on Hamburg in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening.

City have had little to show for their efforts since being taken over by the Abu Dhabi United group earlier in the year, failing to challenge the top clubs in the English Premier League.

In fact, the club briefly flirted with the relegation zone before launching a fightback in the new year that has most likely saved them from an embarrassing return to the second tier of English football.

With the specter of relegation out of the way, Manchester City are free to focus on their European campaign, and a win against Bundesliga leaders, Hamburg, on Thursday evening could do a lot to convince the club’s owners and fans that it is heading in the right direction.

Hamburg will be going into the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals with 11 players missing due to injury or suspension, and have had to draft 2 players from their fourth division team for Thursday’s match.

“We’ve done very well so far in Europe and we want to advance further,” said Hamburg’s manager Martin Jol. “The euphoria is great and that’s good. A win would be good, without conceding a goal would be great,” he said.