After the early days of struggles and humiliation, Manchester City have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages for the fourth year in a row.
That must certainly be gratifying for the Abu Dhabi United Group who took control of the club in 2008, but it doesn’t really tell the story.
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Although City topped their group in last season’s early stages, and although the year before they came within a Manuel Pellegrini brain freeze of topping their group the year before, this season they look like an even better prospect.
This time they won’t top their group, but – as was the case in previous years – they won’t face Barcelona in the next round either.
Pep Guardiola has only had a couple of months to coach his team. By late February, City will be a different proposition. And given the way they dispatched Barcelona at the Etihad Stadium in early November; given the way they started the season; and given the way they are already able to string together flowing attacks that force odd noises out of the mouths of entranced onlookers, that’s a good sign.
In fact, one of the other good omens for City is their manager. Pep Guardiola’s record in the Champions League borders on the obscene. An immodest record of seven Champions League campaigns as a manager and seven semi final appearances, including two victories in the competition.
The semi final, to Guardiola, is his job. That’s as far as he can take his team. He can plot and scheme, he can out-tactic and outmanoeuvre when passions aren’t high, when tensions are normal. When it gets to the semi final of the Champions League, it’s no longer about tactics – not solely, at least. When you get to the semi, it’s about heart and desire, about fight and nerve. That’s not something you can coach.
It’s Guardiola’s job to get City to the semi final. It’s the players’ job to take it from there.
Last season’s semi final appearance was unexpected. Topping their group, Manuel Pellegrini’s side did what they had to do to avoid a big name in the last 16 for the first time. But you get the feeling that City only really made a semi final by default. A 0-0 draw at home to Dynamo Kiev was enough to see City through: an historic occasion, the club’s first time in the Champions League quarter final, a watershed moment signalling City’s breakthrough in Europe. It was something the fans had craved, something the owners had craved, but something was lacking. It was as dull a 0-0 draw as you could hope to see, the crowd was flat as a result, and the progression to the next round upon the final whistle was heralded with only polite applause.
This year, you hope it’s different.
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It is fashionable to have a dig at City’s fans. But they need something to actually cheer about. A drab 0-0 isn’t really enough to get the blood flowing.
There’s an irony in the fact that City have, in the past, performed better in their group than they have this year. And an irony in the fact that even though they reached a semi final last season and topped their group, it is this season – after finishing second in the group stages – that they look more likely reach the final four in the competition.
Pep Guardiola always gets to semi finals. And last season his team proved that they could reach a semi final on heart alone. What will happen when Guardiola adds the quality?
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