Manchester City Draw Steaua Bucharest In UCL

Manchester City draw Steaua Bucharest in their Play-Off Champions League game to enter the group stages. We discuss why a loss for City would be unacceptable to all.

The relief was written all over Manchester City Director of Football Txiki Begiristain’s face. The nail-biting ceremony to pick who City would have the dubious honour of having absolutely no choice but to play and beat to enter into the Champions League group stages had finished, and, doubtless Txiki felt he and his club had dodged a bullet.

The Blues will be off to Romania to play Steaua Bucharest, before heading back to the Etihad for the second leg, a draw that may not have been the best but will likely be enough, outside an unthinkable upset, to see Pep Guardiola’s men progress.

The look on Txiki’s face just before the draw looked as someone who had consulted a spirit medium and was told it was City’s destiny to draw the toughest opposition available in Roma or Monaco. When the word of Steaua came out, he was so visually elated he had all the look of someone off to the pub to celebrate.

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Steaua is one of those clubs most folks have likely heard of, though doubtless for many of the wrong reasons. The most popular team in Romania, though far from the best lately, their fan base is fiercely loyal but has a tendency to be fiercely wild to boot. I’m not sure any club in Europe has been fined and censured for fan riots, xenophobic chants and, of course, missile throwing, as Steaua. It would all be a bit intimidating if not for the gulf in quality between the two sides.

As things stand, City have to be odds-on favourites for a win away and at home and I’m not sure Pep would settle for any less. The problem though, and ultimately it’s Pep’s problem, is that he even has these two fixtures in the first place. Txiki’s blushes were spared by the soft draw, but it does little to act as a fig leaf for the failures that led to Manchester City almost failing to qualify for the competition to begin with.

Former manager Manuel Pellegrini, who saw his side only just manage to qualify for the play-offs on goal difference, may be long gone, but the legacy of the squad will still weigh heavily on Txiki. The club brought in many underwhelming, yet overpriced superstars, among them Raheem Sterling, Wilfried Bony and Eliaquim Mangala, the combined worth of which is much more than City’s signings this summer, yet almost missed the top four. For Citizens, this game shouldn’t even be happening and thus a win is essential.

Steaua may be on a lower level in general, but here they are with a draw against a club with seemingly unlimited resources and purchasing power. An upset may be unthinkable, but it isn’t impossible. Worse for Pep is the additional travel and squad selections will happen during a tough opening to the season in which he will want to stamp home his authority with victories pretty quickly.

Regardless, it’s a headache that Pep, a two-time Champions League winner, will have to put up with as failing to make the group stages would be a savage disappointment with the squad at his disposal. One thing is for sure, nobody will be hoping he succeeds more than Txiki Begiristain.

Next: A Difficult Decision Awaits Barcelona

First Leg will be held on either 16/17 August in the Arena Nationala, Bucharest.

Second Leg will be held on either 23/24 August in the Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

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Manchester City Draw Steaua Bucharest In The Champions League

By Stephen Little | Aug 5, 2016

Manchester City draw Steaua Bucharest in their Play-Off Champions League game to enter the group stages. We discuss why a loss for City would be unacceptable to all.