The Italian masterminded seven victories in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup before the three-week break that saw the bulk of the squad head to their national teams.
City now return to action with a difficult double-header with Liverpool away on Sunday at 16:30 (UK) followed by Champions League winners Paris St-Germain at the Etihad Stadium three days later.
Anfield has always been one of the most difficult fixtures on the calendar but last season City secured a dramatic late 2-1 victory with goals from Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.
Maresca is relishing the opportunity to repeat the result but says it will be important to have the fans behind us.
“First of all, Anfield away, we’re going to bring our passion, we’re going to bring our gameplan,” the City boss said. “But for sure we need their voice, their passion.
“In the last two days I watched last year’s game at Anfield away and the celebration at the end was fantastic.
“We need to be all together. I said many times the reason why this organisation in the last 15 years was top was because from the owner, the CEO, the sporting director, the manager, players, fans, they are all on the same page. And this is fantastic.”
Maresca is expecting a tough encounter with City likely to receive another hostile reception at Anfield.
And the motto ‘Superbia in proelio’, which appeared on our previous badge and translates as ‘pride in battle’ is the perfect mantra to take into the game.
“Yes, Superbia in proelio – Latin, Italian, we are quite close on that,” Maresca added.
“It’s what we need. We know that the next two games are going to both be battles, especially Anfield away.
“We’re going to bring all our passionate feeling there. But at the same moment we need our fans with us. We need their passion and their voice and hopefully at the end of the game we can all be happy.”
During the international break, Maresca took the opportunity to review our opening games of the season.
While he was obviously delighted with an excellent start, he says there are still improvements to be made.
“It was important to spend some time with the family and then try to review the games that we have played; things we can do better, things that we can improve,” he said.
“For sure, its been a good feeling – seven games, seven wins. But for me the most important thing are the things that I can see day by day, sometimes they are more important than the final product. Because I can see that the players are improving, they are understanding what we want and this is very important.
“The momentum, for sure, was good. But I think also the rest was a good moment to recover energy and to try to understand what we can do better, that is the main thing, and go again. Liverpool away and PSG at home, two nice games. We work every day for these kind of games so we’re very excited for the next two games. “
City v Paris Saint-Germain: Make a Night of It!
Enjoy our mouthwatering UEFA Champions League home opener against Paris Saint-Germain with a hospitality experience.
It should be quite the game as the 2023 winners take on Luis Enrique’s holders, the French team having triumphed in both 2025 and 2026 by seeing off Inter Milan and Arsenal.
We take on PSG on Wednesday 14 October with a 20:00 (UK) kick-off as we look to follow up on our away victory over FC Porto on Matchnight One with another success under the lights of the Etihad Stadium.
Hospitality is now on sale and prices start from £145.
There’s good availability in our stunning new Pep Guardiola Stand suites – Crossbar, City Hall and Zadie’s.
Hospitality is available for all four of our home European matches - PSG, AEK Athens, Napoli and Sporting CP.
We have 20% off City Hall and Crossbar when two or more UCL League Phase games are purchased – the offer will automatically be added in your basket when you add two or more fixtures.
Make a Night of It and ensure your matchday is an unforgettable one by booking one of our incredible hospitality experiences.
