City's first chance to answer the furore
Manchester City travel to Anfield today for a Premier League fixture that has almost been swallowed whole by the 115 verdict.
Enzo Maresca spent part of his Friday press conference being asked whether any away trip tests a side more than Liverpool on their own patch. He didn't dodge it. It will be a tough game, he said, and a tough test. The focus, in his view, has to be about the game.
He also had a word about the atmosphere waiting for them. Anfield, he noted, is never a nice environment for visitors. This time it will probably be even worse because of the situation. City's duty, as he put it, is to try to do their best and win the game.
He was there when the noise first hit
Maresca has lived through a version of this before. On Friday he referenced how City played through the noise when the Premier League's charges dropped in 2023. He was Pep Guardiola's assistant at the time, watching a squad put the chatter aside and surge onwards to win the treble.
That is the template he has in mind, even if he is careful not to pretend the current situation is trivial. They understand the seriousness of it, he said, and the noise completely. It's something serious. The job is to manage that and focus on what they can do and what they can control, then prepare the game in the best way and try to go to Anfield and win it.
Today is the first opportunity for the players to show their response to the furore surrounding the club. Whatever else is going on, the scoreboard at Anfield will have the final say.