As the night drew to a close on another dismal performance & result from the Premier League Champions, seemingly so did their European campaign as failure to win means Manuel Pellergrini’s men are on the verge of being knocked out of the Champions League after only three games. It is still in their hands but they must beat European Heavyweights Bayern Munich, win away in Italy and a reverse fixture - their Russian hosts. A tough task.
It’s the same story once again from Manchester City, who don’t fail to disappoint. The argument is they have a tough group, but look at the way Bayern dismantled Roma in Rome with an emphatic score line 7-1. They are certainly far from amounting any sort of challenge for a successful Champions League campaign, qualification from the group is not a ‘Success’.
So where are the problems? Firstly the manager, yes they have been unlucky for example Bayern scoring in the last minute however they thoroughly deserved the win. Look at last night the Chilean manager failed to react to what was happening before everyone’s eyes as Moscow started to dominate large periods of the game. His only reaction was after the first goal was conceded and he the decision he made was poor as he took off one of his most influential players and instead left on Yaya Toure who had looked laboured throughout.
Secondly, the players have to stand up and be counted as there performances have been poor, in comparison with their Premier League form. The best team in England failing to beat the whipping boys of the group, just shows a drop in their level.
Perhaps, it is because they have a small club mentality, maybe they feel as though they are lucky to be playing in these types of games, but if they are to progress they need to realise they are one of the best teams in Europe and not there to make up the numbers. Either way there are many issues to address, and they need to be addressed fast.
City need to improve, so far Europe has been a failure and perhaps this campaign is already done & dusted, but for City they need to show quality where it matters and until they stop acting with a small club mentality, the fear is that they may never get it right.
