Sport

No defence for Manchester City failures in Champions League

Kenny Archer

Kenny Archer

Kenny is the deputy sports editor and a Liverpool FC fan.

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola looks frustrated as his side lose their Champions League quarter-final to Lyon.
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola looks frustrated as his side lose their Champions League quarter-final to Lyon. Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola looks frustrated as his side lose their Champions League quarter-final to Lyon.

THERE'S a strange quality about the Champions League trophy: you don't have to be a great team to win it - but you're not truly considered a great team unless you have won it.

The sides generally included in the first category include Chelsea 2012 – far better Blues teams fell short in the competition – Liverpool in 2005 ('the Miracle of Istanbul'), Porto (in both their triumphs, 1987 and 2004), and Steaua Bucharest in 1986.

Among those over which rather harsh question marks still hang are Arsenal's 'Invincibles' and the Manchester City teams of recent seasons.

Arsene Wenger built a fabulous footballing force, which won leagues in 1998, 2002, and – unbeaten – in 2003-4. They pushed Manchester United all the way during the latter's incredible Treble season, including that fantastic FA Cup semi-final clash, but unlike the Red Devils they never lifted 'the Big Cup'. The closest the Gunners came was in losing the 2006 Final to Barca.

Domestic dominance simply isn't enough.

AC Milan went unbeaten throughout the 1991-92 Serie A season – but they didn't win the European Cup in that campaign, so the season they crushed Barcelona in the 1994 Champions League Final is better remembered.

Chelsea, with Jose Mourinho spending Roman Abramovich's billions, swept all before them in England, taking over from those Arsenal Invincibles as champions, cruising to back-to-back titles – but Rafa Benitez's Liverpool twice prevented them reaching Champions League Finals.

Even when they eventually did, in 2008 (with Mourinho gone), they slipped up against an admittedly terrific Manchester United team.

Manchester City has been the strongest English club over the past decade, but they've failed to even reach a Champions League Final, never mind win one.

Despite the increasingly unconvincing protestations of a sizeable section of their support (not all of them lonely teenage boys who would spend most of their time in their own bedroom with or without lockdown) they DO care about that lack of European glory, and it DOES hurt.

Equally, Uefa and/or match officials are NOT to blame.

City have achieved amazing feats domestically. Their 2018 champions haven't received the credit they deserved for clocking up 100 points (apparently the new criterion to be considered 'worthy' champs…).

Last season's success in holding off the challenge of Liverpool, who went on to become European champs for the sixth time, was extraordinary too.

And yet…and yet…

Manager Pep Guardiola has at least been honest, admitting that he'll be criticised if he doesn't lead City to the European summit, saying in February of this year:

"We will, of course, not just be judged on the way we play but the titles we win. That is the truth. It is as simple as that.

"Last year was an extraordinary one for us but people say, 'But you didn't win the Champions League'. That is why I will be judged, if we don't win it in my final period here, that I will be a failure here. I know that."

That desire, almost desperation, from City to become European champions perhaps partly explains Saturday night's astonishing loss to Lyon. The French club have a good pedigree on the big stage but City were overwhelming favourites to set up a semi-final meeting tonight with Bayern Munich.

They didn't do so largely as a consequence of unusual caution from Guardiola, a similarly uncharacteristic approach which also cost them against Spurs in last year's quarter-final first leg.

There's no doubt that Pep is a wonderful manager, who gets his teams playing superb football.

Yet he still has his flaws. Defending has long been the one weak spot of Guardiola teams, even going back to his brilliant Barcelona side which won two Champions Leagues, in 2009 and 2011.

They could be 'got at' – the problem was getting the ball off them often enough, and keeping it for long enough, in order not only to get into their half but to create chances of sufficient quality and quantity.

Pep has deployed a similar attitude to defending at City. He's spent huge amounts on full backs in particular but failed to replace iconic captain and centre half Vincent Kompany. Aymeric Laporte is their only truly top class defender.

Belatedly recognising that, Guardiola attempted to protect his dodgy defence by fielding more defensive midfielders – at the cost of their attacking creativity. He preferred Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan to any two from Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, or either of the Silvas, Bernardo or David.

Bayern would probably have beaten City anyway but this 'summer blitz' format, with a one-match semi-final, was a great opportunity for Guardiola's team.

Nathan Ake is a promising centre half, a sensible acquisition, but City need more and better centre halves alongside Laporte, such as Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly or Dayot Upamecano of RB Leipzig.

Or, of course, Pep could concentrate on coaching better defending from his players, accepting that the opposition, especially at the top level, will have their fair share of the ball, allied with the ability to pose problems when they have possession.

Getting the balance right between defence and attack is the manager's job; trying to create a team full of midfielders, including the goalkeeper, is not the answer.

Since Mourinho's Porto in 2004, the Champions League crown has almost totally been the preserve of the traditional powers: Liverpool, Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and, the daddies of them all, Real Madrid.

Even with this year's surprising set of semi-finalists, German giants Bayern will be the favourites to collect the trophy on Sunday.

Only Chelsea have broken through the traditional stranglehold on 'old big ears', later than they probably should have done, stunning Bayern in their own backyard eight years ago.

There's still plenty of hope for City, especially after their luckiest 2-1 victory of the season, at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, ensured they'll be back in the competition again in the next campaign.

They remain a very good team, great going forward – but, going forward, they won't be recalled as 'great' unless they can become better all-round, and become champions of Europe.