After a hat-trick against Bournemouth, Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has set his sights on bigger targets, starting with Wednesday’s Champions League encounter at home to Europa League holders Sevilla.
Sterling inspired City to a 5-1 demolition of Bournemouth on Saturday in his best performance since joining from Liverpool in a deal that could be worth up to £49 million ($75.7 million, 66.7 million euros).
With Wilfried Bony also scoring twice, Manuel Pellegrini’s side barely missed the injured Sergio Aguero and David Silva, but ahead of successive games against Sevilla and Manchester United, Sterling knows that City’s path is about to become a great deal steeper.
“That was my best game so far for City. I had chances and I finished them, so I’m happy,” the England forward told the club website.
“The movement up front and the passing from midfield has been really good in the last few games and we’ve been playing some good, free-flowing stuff.
“We have to put this game to one side now and look towards Sevilla on Wednesday and Man United next weekend. But our focus for now is purely on Wednesday.”
Having crushed Newcastle United 6-1 prior to the international break, City have now scored 11 goals in two games, but the transition from domestic to continental competition has been a consistent area of concern in recent seasons.
City won their first five Premier League games without conceding a goal, only to crash 2-1 at home to Juventus in their opening Group D assignment last month.
A 90th-minute Aguero penalty saw them win at Borussia Moenchengladbach in their second group game, but with Juventus having beaten Sevilla 2-0 on the same night, a shootout for second place is already on the cards.
As well as Aguero and Silva, City are also currently without both left-backs Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy, meaning right-back Bacary Sagna is expected to fill in on the left side of defence.
Skipper Vincent Kompany is in line to return after being rested against Bournemouth, while Pellegrini has allayed fears about the fitness of Yaya Toure after he was taken off at half-time.
– Toure broods –
Although fit, Toure is not content, as he disclosed in an interview with L’Equipe on Monday in which he said that he was “not happy” due to a perceived lack of recognition from the English media.
While the Ivorian broods, Wednesday’s game is likely to be a happier occasion for City winger Jesus Navas, who played 393 games for Sevilla during a 10-year period prior to alighting in northwest England in 2013.
Sevilla’s domestic struggles continued on Saturday as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at Eibar, which left them 12th in La Liga with just two wins from their opening eight games.
However, they have shown their ability to rise to the occasion as one of those victories came against European champions Barcelona.
Unai Emery’s squad is also beginning to take shape after a spate of injuries, but Gael Kakuta, Sergio Escudero, Nico Pareja, Daniel Carrico and goalkeeper Beto are all expected to miss the trip to Manchester.
Beto’s absence has allowed Spaniard Sergio Rico to reclaim his place in recent weeks and he believes a change of scenery can do Sevilla good as they have produced their best in European competitions over the past two years.
“Now we have to change our mentality,” said Rico, whose team have not won in England in three attempts.
“It is a different competition and we need to turn the page and think only about Manchester City. It will be very difficult to win there, but we go with all the desire in the world.”
Influential Argentine midfielder Ever Banega returned from injury as a substitute at Eibar and is expected to start at the Etihad Stadium.
Ukrainian international winger Yevhen Konoplyanka could also be brought into the starting line-up after making another strong impact off the bench.