The main thing is not to get lost against the background of Bayern and Real Madrid.
City were the least fortunate with the draw for the Champions League – on the way to the final they will have to fight twice with last years tournament winners. These teams have already covered the entire distance more than once, so this course causes excitement for them. But in relation to the “citizens” there is more fear.
Next – “Bayern” and possibly “Real” or “Chelsea”
Today the Sky Blues will face Bayern. The great German has a clear structure of pressing and an impressive selection of players, which allows even after a change of coach not to waste time on restructuring. Monaco surprisingly quickly put Borussia Dortmund in their place and returned to the leaders of the Bundesliga. Thomas Tuchel is an excellent crisis manager capable of delivering results in the shortest possible time (Chelsea won’t let you lie).
And Bayern’s experience in the main European Cup in recent years is worth considering. The European grand in the 2019/20 season became the winner of the tournament, but in the next 2 seasons he stopped at the quarterfinals. The most offensive was the defeat against Villarreal in the previous campaign. This situation is similar to City’s failures, but there is one important difference: Bayern’s players know they can make it back to the final. Champions League and win. They have done this quite recently. That’s why recent bankruptcies cause sporting anger rather than despair. In the case of Pep Guardiola’s men, everything will depend on how far they can go in their desire to win and how they oppose the champions’ mentality.
By the way, City’s trials won’t end there. Two more strong irritants from the “citizens” entered their part of the net – Chelsea, who beat SM two years earlier, and Real Madrid – the current owner of the “ears”, which also eliminated Pep’s team on the way to the trophy. “Creamy” and “aristocrats” will compete for a ticket to the semifinals of the current Champions League. If we take into consideration the form of both teams and the difficulties they have had during the season, the favorites are Madrid. It would be a good story with an attempt at revenge for a recent failure, but to achieve it you still have to go through Bayern.
More luck in previous years
And look at the opposite end of the grid: in the Italian company, only Benfica has reached this stage in the last 10 years. Neither Milan, nor Inter, and even more so Napoli, have gone that far. No one has experience of semi-finals/finals in the same period. And everyone will play with each other: how can we not talk about bad luck?
On the other hand, in the last 3 seasons, the fate of the English giant hasn’t been very hard anyway. A year earlier, after the victory over Sporting, the “Azzurri” agreed with Atletico – and the “mattress” experience in the European Cup is clearly less rich than that of Liverpool, Bayern and Real Madrid. Their “citizens” passed, but failed to break “Real” – they stopped in the semifinals.
Even earlier (2020/21 season), Josep Guardiola’s wards followed the path of Borussia Dortmund and Mönchengladbach, and in the semifinals they met with PSG. By this time, the Parisians had managed to go to the final, but could not get rid of the curse of losers – so City took their place in the decisive stage – and lost to Chelsea.
And if you look at the 2019/20 campaign grid, it becomes clear: SM generally a sin to complain. In the round of 16, the Sky Blues were lucky enough to reach Real Madrid, where Zidane had not yet returned, the team was going through difficult times. And the return match came after a long break. In the quarterfinals, Lyon went to the opponent, which was also quite possible to pass. But Guardiola again exaggerated with tactics and City were left without a trophy.
You can put forward a theory: the “citizens” have exhausted the supply of football luck, squandering their chances. Now we have to fight for victory in Champions League no such bonus.
There are arguments in favor of City
If you think about it, two Champions Cup giants in the playoffs aren’t many. Teams from 1/8 to the final achieve exactly this: one in the decisive match, the other – with varying degrees of probability in the remaining three stages. Only that the Municipality has received the annual fee in advance and in the greatest concentration. Put simply, if the “citizens” aim to win the “cup with big ears”, they should still face opponents of the caliber of Real Madrid and Bayern.
And if the “sky blues” overcome the entire distance and end up in the final, they will have an advantage on their side. Regardless of the opponent, the “citizens” will have much more experience in European competitions: they, unlike Napoli, Inter, Milan, regularly get into the playoffs and quite often make it to 1/4-1 / 2. Plus, the emotional background of victory over serious opponents and the awareness that the most intense phase has already been overcome.
But these are only intangibles – and there is one that can be measured. This is Erling Haaland with his performance. With all the problems in the pressing structure that arise with the Norwegian’s appearance on the field, he has closed the position that has been empty in recent years and is extremely important for City, thus becoming the spearhead of ornate attacks. Yes, the center forward has 30 goals in 27 games Premier League – and leads by a margin in the list of goalscorers of the championship (ahead of Kane by 7 goals). Now Kevin and company can focus on their basic duties. Perhaps this element was not enough for success.
