Sport
Manchester City won’t have a better opportunity to win the Champions League
Manchester City pursued Pep Guardiola over a number of seasons due to their strong belief he would guide them to Champions League glory. At that time, the Catalan had a strong track record at the elite level of European football as a two-time continental champion. Seven years on, Guardiola has still to achieve his ultimate objective as City boss.
While Guardiola has won four titles in five Premier League seasons, setting a new standard at the top of the English game, Champions League success has remained elusive. City made a run to the final in 2021, but suffered defeat to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. In other seasons, they have been upset by Monaco, Lyon and Tottenham Hotspur.
Something feels different this season, though. Manchester City are on the brink of progressing to the Champions League semi-finals after a quarter-final first leg demolition of Bayern Munich. Wednesday night’s second leg should see Guardiola’s team get the job down and make the final four.
Bayern Munich themselves had been widely seen as Champions League contenders in their own right. The Bavarians boasted a 100% record in the competition this season before arriving at the Etihad Stadium, but were dismantled by a better coached, more talented opponent in the form of Manchester City.
A semi-final meeting against Chelsea or Real Madrid will await City should they make it through and Guardiola’s team would be favourites against either. Chelsea are enduring a run of dismal form under interim manager Frank Lampard while Real Madrid are a flawed team even if the Champions League consistently brings the best out of them.
On the other side of the draw, one of AC Milan, Benfica, Inter or Napoli will qualify for the final. Napoli have been a force of nature for much of this season with Luciano Spalletti’s team runaway leaders at the top of Serie A, but they are without a win in three of their last four matches in all competitions. Injuries have been a factor in their slump, but Napoli are on the slide.
Benfica have also lost their last three matches in-a-row in all competitions while the two Milanese clubs – AC Milan and Inter – have struggled for consistent form all season. At the time of writing, Manchester City are by far and away the team in the best form of any still involved in the Champions League having won their last 10.
Of the teams currently top of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues, three – Arsenal, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain – aren’t in the Champions League quarter-finals while a fourth one is Bayern Munich, surely soon to be out of the competition. Manchester United are also in the Europa League while Atletico Madrid and Juventus crashed out in the group stage of this season’s Champions League.
City have Erling Haaland to lead the line as the most devastating number nine in the sport right now, but they also have Kevin de Bruyne as the supply line and the likes of Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez to create and carry their own goal threat in the attacking third. This is without mentioning the likes of Rodri and Ruben Dias who provide defensive strength.
Of course, there’s always the possibility City will meet an inspired opponent or endure a bad day at the office themselves, but this is a team with quality in all areas. They have hit their stride at the right time of the season and there might not be an opponent that can stop them from finally getting their hands on the trophy they want more than any other.
