Manchester City suffered yet another disappointing European failure after losing 2-1 to CSKA Moscow in their all important Champions League group clash on Wednesday night. At the final whistle, the fireworks that had introduced proceedings painted a somewhat ironic picture of Manchester City’s campaign as they, along with City’s European dream, faded into darkness.
Manchester City’s European Nightmare Continues
Rewind exactly 12 months and Manchester City were facing the same opposition in a match that, if won, would see them through to the last 16 of the Champions League. That night, City experienced one of the few real moments of elation that they have had in their Champions League career as they comfortably beat their Russian opponents 5-2 and sealed a place in the knockout stages of the competition. One year on, their current side could not provide such joy.
Manchester City’s incapability to produce any sort of the same performances fans have been used to seeing, at times, in the Premier League has left question marks above players and the manager alike. Wednesday night’s performance and result continued the running story of European failure that has flowed through City in recent years. But who or what is to blame?
Although City can still mathematically qualify, if results in other games go against them then even a final two group game wins against Bayern Munich and Roma will not save them from elimination. If City do fail to progress (which looks likely) then Manuel Pellegrini can expect the already mounting pressure to increase, as is the nature of managing a club of their size and with their ambition. Pellegrini himself has said his side have suffered from “a crisis of confidence” in the Champions League and nobly refused to blame any bad refereeing decisions for their loss on Wednesday night.
It would be all too easy to look solely at Pellegrini for City’s recent problems in Europe. The man that brought them the Premier League title and League Cup in his first term as Manchester City manager has struggled to reverse their European woes but has had a number of factors to overcome. It is important to remember that he is having to cope with a reduced squad in the Champions League this year as part of a punishment imposed by UEFA for failing to comply with the new Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Furthermore, in the same week where Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers came under fire for fielding a ‘weakened’ side for their trip to Real Madrid, Pellegrini continued in the same vein he has shown in Europe by starting what he deemed to be his best 11 players on the night. The problem is that these players did not perform for him.
Ultimately, on a night where Manchester City’s players needed to perform with passion and positivity, they produced a tremendously disappointing display. This was epitomised 96 seconds into the game against CSKA when Yaya Toure’s slack marking allowed Seydou Doumbia, who must wish he was played at the Etihad every week having scored four goals in his last two games there, to head in the opening goal. Toure’s overall performance showed the Jekyll and Hyde character we have been familiarised with since the start of the new season, striking a wonderful free kick to equalise before foolishly getting himself sent off in the second half, as City folded.
Toure was not the only player who let down his side. Fernandinho, who was also sent off and misses the Bayern game, showed inexperience with the foul that led to his second booking. City could have lost a third man after Samir Nasri kicked out having come on a second half substitute. Gael Clichy especially had a night to forget and arguably only Joe Hart and Martin Demechelis, a player who notably came in for criticism at times last season, could look themselves in the mirror with any pride at the final whistle. The ill-disciplined attitude of the players on the night came close to embarrassing at times and a further lack of desire meant that City simply were not good enough.
Although unlikely, with two victories in their remaining two games a small glimmer of hope will remain of City reaching the last 16 of the competition. However, City offered nothing to suggest that winning their next two games will be a likely outcome and quite frankly they are undeserving of the opportunity to go further in this year’s competition.
European success appears to have evaded Pellegrini and his players for another year and attention will now turn to their progress in the Premier League. Saturday’s trip to QPR provides an opportunity for the players to bounce back and alleviate City fans’ worries that the current group of players might underachieve this season.
Thank you for reading. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
