Manchester City Under Enzo Maresca: Champions League Expectations
Manchester City step into Europe under Enzo Maresca for the first time on Tuesday night, and the tone was clear before the squad even landed in Portugal: standards stay exactly where Pep Guardiola left them.
On the eve of their Champions League opener away to Porto, Maresca and Matheus Nunes fronted up to the cameras, offering injury news, tactical hints and a glimpse into the new rhythm of life at City.
O’Reilly hope, Doku concern
The headline for City fans came early. Nico O’Reilly, a late withdrawal from the warm-up before the weekend win over Coventry, could be back in time for the Manchester derby. His issue was never deemed serious and Maresca remains optimistic the youngster will be available for Sunday’s meeting with United.
Jeremy Doku is a different story.
Injured in the Community Shield and left out of the travelling squad, the Belgium international has already missed the start of the campaign and is now expected to sit out at least the first five matches of the season, despite Maresca stressing that he is “back” and has suffered no setback. He simply isn’t ready yet.
Both players missed training on Monday and stayed in Manchester as the squad flew to Porto.
Maresca’s City: same demands, new touches
This is Maresca’s first Champions League game as City head coach, but he is no stranger to the competition or to this dressing room. He was part of Guardiola’s staff during the Treble season and later had spells at Leicester and Chelsea, experiences he has carried into his new role.
One of his quirks has already made it to the Etihad Campus: music in training and during the warm-up.
“It is something I had at Leicester, Chelsea and I introduce it here,” he explained. The players pick the tracks, and Maresca is convinced the mood matters. When the speakers are on, the squad relaxes, smiles, and then works.
On the pitch, his respect for Porto was unmistakable. He called them a “very, very good team” with a clear style, praised their set-piece threat and insisted City must be “perfect” in both boxes.
The question of favourites drew a typically sharp response. City might be European royalty now, but Maresca wasn’t interested in labels. “We are here to do our best,” he said. “The game will dictate who is favourites. It is a hard place to come, difficult place. We are going to try and do our best and try to win the game.”
Haaland: from phenomenon to “family man”
Erling Haaland’s status inside the dressing room continues to grow. Maresca described him as the club’s second captain, a figure who has “won everything for the club” and whose leadership is still expanding.
“He is a man now, a dad,” Maresca said, noting how life has shifted since the Norwegian first arrived. The forward is now, in his manager’s eyes, “complete” – a top-class player, a top-class person, and a family man.
But the workload is brutal. Maresca admitted the mental and physical toll on Haaland and other internationals is real. When the staff see fatigue, the solution is simple: rest. That might mean a game out, or a week. The priority is to keep 11 players at 100 per cent.
New format, same ambition
The Champions League’s revamped format doesn’t soften City’s target. Maresca called it a “nice competition” that requires adaptation, but insisted the ambition “is still the same”.
He knows the margins. In the Premier League, there is room to recover from a bad day. In Europe, one poor performance and you are gone. City lived that reality before finally lifting the trophy under Guardiola. Maresca, who has also had European nights with Chelsea, sees no reason to lower the bar now.
“When you are City, the expectation is higher,” he said. His answer is to narrow the focus: day by day, performance by performance, improvement above noise. Transfer spending, outside pressure, favourites’ tags – all secondary.
Nunes: right-back, rhythm and Porto pride
If Maresca brought the structure, Matheus Nunes brought the colour.
The Portugal international, who has already been used at right-back, shrugged off any debate about his position. “I can play any position. I feel happy at right-back,” he said, before quickly reminding everyone where his instincts lie. He still sees himself as a midfielder, someone who loves to step forward and attack.
“When Mister decides me to play in one position, that is where I will play,” he added. The role will change from game to game, but his commitment will not.
Nunes also confirmed he is finally at full tilt after an ankle problem from a tackle in training before the Arsenal match disrupted his start to the season. “I’m good, I am 100 per cent,” he said. The frustration has gone; now he wants rhythm.
Facing Porto: respect and rivalry
For Nunes, Porto is not just another name on the fixture list. It is a familiar foe and a proud flag-bearer for Portuguese football.
“It is going to be tough,” he said. “All teams have great players. I know Pepe is a great forward, he plays very well with his two feet. It is going to be a beautiful duel.”
He refused to label this tie as City’s hardest so far. Arsenal was complicated. Crystal Palace was complicated. Porto, though, sit among “one of the best teams in Portugal”, and that is enough to demand City’s best level.
What intrigues him is how Porto have evolved. When he played in Portugal, he remembered them as a transition-heavy side. Now, from what he has seen, they enjoy controlling the game, keeping the ball, still underpinned by that traditional fighting DNA.
Life under Maresca and the new arrivals
Inside the City dressing room, Nunes painted the picture of a manager who has jolted the place in the right way.
“He has brought so much energy, there feels like a new energy around,” Nunes said. Standards are high, the mood is lively, and the players have embraced the tweaks – including those booming speakers. “I like it, why not. All of them want to be DJs,” he laughed.
On the transfer front, Nunes could only praise the club’s recruitment. The new signings, he said, “were the best players at the other teams”. City’s job now is to help them settle, keep them happy and integrate them into a squad that expects to compete on every front.
He also welcomed the arrival of Enzo Fernandez, calling him “one of the best players”, and credited the club for the work done in the window.
Echoes of Pep, but a fresh voice
Asked to compare Maresca and Guardiola, Nunes was cautious. He has known Pep for three seasons, Maresca for only a few months. Time will tell. For now, he sees passion in both, more similarities than differences.
On the pitch, that continuity matters. Off it, the details are changing – the music, the energy, the voice in the technical area. The Champions League format has shifted too, but City’s target has not moved an inch.
They arrive in Porto without Doku, with O’Reilly racing the clock for the derby, and with a head coach determined to prove that this is evolution, not decline.
The question now is simple: can Maresca’s City carry that Treble-winning edge into a new European era, or will this campaign demand something even sharper?
