The defending A-League Men champions will host Adelaide United at home on Sunday with their semi-final tie poised at 0-0 aggregate, yet the pressure seems to be back on the premiers Melbourne City.
“The pressure is still on them (Melbourne City) as they still haven’t beaten a top-four side,” said Adelaide United head coach, Carl Veart.
“So, we will go to Melbourne full of confidence.”
Usually, a defending champion and premiership-winning team will go into a home semi-final with all the confidence in the world.
Yet there is a cloud that hangs over Melbourne City’s championship credentials.
City are yet to defeat a top-four side this campaign after 10 attempts.
Six draws and four losses highlight their attempts against the best A-League Men teams this season in Melbourne Victory, Western United and Adelaide United.
Yet City’s head coach Patrick Kisnorbo scoffed at any criticism towards his team’s statistics against the top four.
“It’s a funny one,’ Kisnorbo said.
“You say it like it’s a negative, but when you look at it, we were consistently the best team over 26 games.”
However, there is one key factor that Kisnorbo is missing, and that’s the fact that you must go through a top four side to win the A-League Men’s championship.
But Kisnorbo “could not care” about the statistics that are stacking up against his side.
“I don’t like it when people say that (City haven’t defeated a top four side) because I think it’s disrespectful to the team,” said Kisnorbo.
“We are the second ever team to win back to back premierships.
“Teams need to get credited with achievements, so I couldn’t even care about not defeating a top-four side.”
Meanwhile United can take plenty of positives away from their 0-0 draw, and head into their do-or-die semi-final clash full of confidence.
“We won there (AAMI Park) earlier in the season. So, we’ve got good belief in ourselves and what we are doing,” said Veart.
Featured image credit: Melbourne City FC
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