Manchester City: Time for the Citizens to do well against Barcelona

Manchester City have the squad, manager and resources to compete on equal terms with the best clubs in the game, but first they need to overcome a history of under-performing against Barcelona.

There’s something distinctly unenviable about supporters of teams that have only moral victories to show for yet another season’s investment in the misleading ups and all-too-familiar downs of sport fandom. It’s been 108 years since the Chicago Cubs won a World Series, and indeed sit one loss away from making that 109, but hey, at least they topped the Cardinals again. Spurs may well have imploded at the end of last season, but had they finished above Arsenal I’m not sure their fans would have cared.

If ever there was a club that knows all about the moral victory crutch, it’s Manchester City. Having endured a club lifetime of mediocrity and being overshadowed by another team who use Manchester in their name, the Blues are firmly and comfortably sitting up there with the top football franchises in the world.

Trophies are plentiful, success is never too far away, yet there remains one moral victory City should make every attempt to accomplish – making a good accounting of themselves while playing Barcelona.

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Ah, doesn’t it sound easy? Play well against the best team in the game. I’m not even talking about winning, necessarily, just not failing to turn up as has seemingly happened in every encounter between the two sides recently. Simply play the best they can, without training ground mistakes, and win or lose, at least they will have demonstrated their level. Heck, they might even win.

Such a simple thing but it hasn’t actually taken place yet. Those familiar with the situation at the Etihad won’t have been shocked in the slightest that in their last encounter, despite City showing flashes of dominance, Barcelona added 4 goals unanswered to their surplus-to-requirement goal difference tally. For those that might have thought Guardiola’s men actually had the game under control, Fernandinho mysteriously slips in the box gifting Barcelona their first goal and misfortune had a play in each one thereafter.

Barcelona, of course, took their chances. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez rarely miss when given the opportunity, after all. I don’t mean at all to detract from them and their prolific style of play, but Manchester City are a better team than what they’ve shown Blaugrana in the past. Sergio Aguero is every bit a world-class player as aforementioned Messi and Suarez, and if his little goal drought seems to have ended in a washout against West Brom on Saturday.

In a number of other areas, too, City aren’t found wanting. Barca themselves went chasing for Nolito over the Summer and it’s rumoured they wanted Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane in the past as well. And why not? Pep is blessed with a number of the sport’s finest talents at his disposal and there’s legitimately no reason why they can’t make a good accounting for themselves at the highest level. If bottom of the table Granada can take the fight to Messi and co, there’s no excuses left for the Blues.

What could be the difference this time round? Pep Guardiola. He knows his old club inside out and they still play the game he helped nourish at Camp Nou. Pep’s decision to rest Aguero and play 5 in the middle of the park was technically sound and, for a time, seemed to be having the desired outcome. City may not have looked much like opening the scoring, but dominating possession silences the threat from a Barcelona team that thrives on it. He may not use the same trick again, but nobody will understand and seek to abuse Barca’s weaknesses more.

He may need to. City’s spell of poor form domestically spilled out into the international arena with the loss to Barcelona coupled with a disappointing draw at Celtic. With Borussia Monchengladbach now snapping at their heels, City face a real battle to make it past the group stages, never mind to see the semi-finals as they did last year.

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Because of all that, perhaps there is something more to the game than just a moral victory up for grabs. Make no mistake though, City need the bogey off their back. As Nolito said in the pre-match press conference – “we have to beat them some time”, for Pep that time is now.

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It’s time Manchester City did well against Barcelona

By Stephen Little | Nov 1, 2016

Manchester City have the squad, manager and resources to compete on equal terms with the best clubs in the game, but first they need to overcome a history of under-performing against Barcelona.