On Tuesday evening Manchester city had the welcome distraction of European football to keep them entertained after the disappointment of losing the Manchester Derby at the weekend albeit due to a magnificent effort from Wayne Rooney to win the game. At the Kleanthis Vikelidis the citizens were widely expected to beat unknown Greek outfit in the first-leg, last-32 clash, however not find a way through a determined Aris Salonika could defence.  

City manager Roberto Mancini may take comfort from the fact that Aris' two English opponents prior at the ground, Chelsea and Ipswich, went on to respectively win the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 and the Uefa Cup in 1981 after failing to win in Greece, as the draw was the Greek sides 25^th consecutive European home game without defeat.But who exactly are these relatively unknowns who halted the attacking force whom succeeded in where Manchester united could not and achieve a clean sheet against the blues? Well here’s a three minuet brief history to impress your mates down the local at the weekend.

Named in honour of the Greek god of war, Aris were founded on 25 March 1914 in Salonika and made a swift impact in Greek football, winning the first national title in 1928 under the guidance of Austrian coach Thomas Kessler; the star player in that team was Kleanthis Vikelidis, after whom the club's stadium is now named. Inspired by Dinos Kouis and Giorgos Firos, the Aris side of the late 1970s played some great football, but lost the 1979/80 title with a 2-0 play-off defeat against Olympiacos FC after the teams had finished level on points.In subsequent decades financial problems blunted Aris's competitive edge, but they regrouped in 2006 with the development of the Aris Friends Club under which supporters financially assist the club while having a say in the election of presidents. The club has been champions of Greece three times, and have won the Greek Cup once.The club currently languish in eighth place after finishing fourth in the Super League last year under Valencia and inter manager Hector Cuper, who left last month despite leading the team into the last 32 of the Europa league replaced by Giannis Michalitsos. Their Star players include Brazilian Neto, Greek keeper Michalis Sifakis and Spaniard captain  Sergio Koke, formely of Marsielle and Malaga. Well I Never.