Tuesday’s draw with Roma was the fourth successive time
that Manchester City have failed to win their opening home game in the
Champions League, that’s surprising given how the Ethiad is a domestic fortress
on which City have built league success.
It’s a result which points towards the larger trend of City failing to live up
to their domestic prowess in Europe’s elite competition.
Last season was the first time that they managed to make it
out of the group stage, it must be said that they have faced tough draws in
each of their four seasons in the Champions League, they’ve been pitted against
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund to name but a few.
There has been talk since City reached the Champions
League of a lack of experience in the competition letting the side down, and
while that may be true of the team it is not true of the players that make it
up. Yaya Toure has won the Champions League with Barcelona, Demichelis was part
of the Malaga side that progressed so far under Pellegrini a few seasons ago
and many of these City players are now entering their fourth year in the
competition. These are world class players who have won countless domestic and
international trophies, there should be no doubting their ability to produce on
the biggest stage and yet doubts remain.
A quick look at the statistics is enough to highlight the
disparity between City in the Champions League and Premier League, in all but
their first season in the competition they boasted considerably higher
possession and pass accuracy in the Premier League than in Europe. Perhaps not
surprising given the calibre of opponents is higher in the Champions League and
City’s game is not overly based on possession, like Barcelona’s is. Also the
fact that this is a sample of 6 games in the Champions League and if two of
those are against a Guardiola side it’s understandable that City would have
less possession. What it does point to though is that City have to make a shift
from being the side that dominates the game to one that is on the back foot
when in Europe. Maybe they’re not used to being the underdogs and that change
of expectations could cause problems but this also highlights the need to paly
differently in Europe to in the Premier League, maybe throw in another
midfielder and sacrifice a striker.
Defensively the statistics also point out to less
impressive performances in the Champions League. Manchester City have conceded
more shots in the Champions League than Premier League in each of their four
seasons in the competition. On average there’s also a trend for less tackles in
the Champions League, a bit surprising given that they’ve had less of the ball
on the whole, suggesting they’re not doing enough without the ball. Although in
the past few seasons they have made more interceptions in the Champions League,
that hasn’t been the case so far this season, again this supports the call for
a 5 man midfield I think.
Going forward there’s cause for concern too, City are
having fewer shots in Europe than in the Premier League and also fewer shots on
target. That’s disappointing given the amount of attacking talent they’ve
amassed. Again, this could be a result of simply playing better opponents more
frequently but if City want to be the best in Europe they need to beat the best
and should be aiming to play with the attacking swagger we’ve become accustomed
to in the Premier League. City are also completing fewer dribbles in the
Champions League, they’re being afforded less time and space than they might be
used to. Also City are caught offside considerably more when playing in the
Champions League than when playing domestically, that ties in with them having
less possession and at times playing on the counter, they’ll be looking for
long balls in behind more frequently and that would lead to more offsides. More
offsides means more attacks will be broken down and is a component in City
having fewer shots.
Overall it seems that the grumblings about City’s
performances in Europe are justified, whether or not it’s down to them being
bad or their opponents being better is tough to say, I feel it’s a combination
of the two. Watching City in Europe they look lethargic at times and don’t
always look up to the game, almost in awe of their opponents. Whether or not
there’s a quick fix is hard to say but it’s looking like it’ll be another tough
European campaign ahead of them.
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