Every time Manchester City play Bayern Munich they see how high the Champions League pinnacle is. They learn that Abu Dhabi’s billions are no guarantee of success against elite European rivals who know every blade of grass in this competition.
You can buy all the players you want, but the one who kills you is the one you
sell: Jerome Boateng, who joined City for a year in 2010 but then returned
to Germany and went on to win the World Cup. It was Boateng’s 90th minute
shot that finally broke Joe Hart’s resistance, via Mario Gotze, and
completed an ominously subdued start for the four English clubs in this
year’s group Champions League.
You can start with all the fancy theories you want. This is Man City’s time in
Europe; time to match domestic supremacy with victory on the Elysian fields
of Germany and Spain. But then the game kicks off and the scale of the task
becomes clear again. City will not win the Champions League just because an
absentee owner in a gulf state says it really is about time they did. There
are no automatic graduations.
The last time Bayern trotted out here in Champions League action they went
down to their biggest defeat in Europe: a 4-0 caning by Real Madrid in last
season’s semi-final second-leg, which cast doubt on the Pep Guardiola
religion imported from Barcelona. But while Madrid went on to complete La
Decima, Bayern supplied the core of Germany’s World Cup winning side. As the
group stage rivalry between these two clubs resumed, the depleted Bundesliga
champions were still able to field Manuel Neuer – the world’s best
goalkeeper – Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller.
Even without Arjen Robben (until late in the game), Franck Ribery, Bastian
Schweinsteiger, Holger Badstuber, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Martinez, Germany’s
most illustrious club still came up with a formula that forced some of the
most important saves of his career from Joe Hart, England’s No 1, who seemed
on a personal mission to frustrate Muller.
Bayern retain their ability to turn defenders into central midfielders – this
time David Alaba, who joined Lahm, mostly a full-back for Germany; and they
reaffirmed their talent for buying just the right kind of player to add to
huge existing strength. Robert Lewandowski, whose touch was off in the
first-half, was followed to the Allianz Arena by Xabi Alonso, who provides
more of the midfield defensive security they lacked in that 4-0 loss to
Alonso’s old club. Another major addition was the Roma centre-back, Medhi
Benatia, who lined up alongside Boateng.
In fact Bayern’s new problem, thinks Otmar Hitzfeld, who won the 2001 Champions League here as coach, is a potentially explosive surfeit of match-changing talent.
"Each player currently accepts spending some time on the bench," Hitzfeld said, “but it could get more dangerous later in the season when some of the returning players are not injured and might start complaining about being a substitute. There is the risk of an implosion.”
This problem is hardly unique to Bayern. But it does point to the vast strength of City’s opponents, in a tough group that also houses Roma. City, too, have faced problems of ego, imbalance and integration, but the hope is that Manuel Pellegrini has ushered in stability. Without it, the English champions would be just another constellation of hired guns, with no deep feeling for the club.
Their first two Champions League adventures were stopped at the group stage and the third took them only one step further. Winning the Premier League title in May at Liverpool’s expense presented these players with a problem to go with their champagne. No longer could they claim to be in a “developmental stage”, preoccupied with establishing their power over Manchester and England.
No: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the measuring stick now, and Bayern’s injuries seemed to matter less than they would to any other club, because Alaba put on a wonderfully athletic show in midfield, and Lahm confirmed again that he might have been the English Paul Scholes had he not started out as a defender.
An assured start by City soon turned into an ordeal, with even Hart feeling the heat. Twice the hero of the first-half flapped at crosses. The first time he raced back to correct his own error by flicking the shot over his crossbar but moments later allowed a corner to sail over his head. Bayern’s late winner was an injustice against him, at least.
Vincent Kompany had warned before this game: “Everything needs to be perfect,” which was setting the bar high. Too high for nights like this, because a wealth of talent and experience comes flying out of the other corner. For City to fulfill the “time to deliver” rhetoric many things must happen. They need Hart to be in the same reliability ball park as Neuer, Yaya Toure to regain his control and locomotion, Sergio Aguero to be fully fit more often, Jesus Navas to rip down the right and Samir Nasri to win games rather than merely decorate them. They will need team spirit and fierce hunger in this most difficult of competitions, as well as tournament cunning, so they manage their resources while also trying to retain their Premier League crown.
Not much to ask then. By the time Robben came on for Muller, who suffered a night of torments in front of goal, City were starting to feel that surviving this trip to the Allianz Arena would be a feat in itself. It proved beyond them.
As Sheikh Mansour sends the money, he can demand whatever he wants. But the small pocket of City fans who watched with quiet trepidation are not blind to the reality that England’s champions are still not likely winners. City must attack it all the same, and draw encouragement from a tough night in Munich, not retreat into their shells.
In fact Bayern’s new problem, thinks Otmar Hitzfeld, who won the 2001 Champions League here as coach, is a potentially explosive surfeit of match-changing talent.
"Each player currently accepts spending some time on the bench," Hitzfeld said, “but it could get more dangerous later in the season when some of the returning players are not injured and might start complaining about being a substitute. There is the risk of an implosion.”
This problem is hardly unique to Bayern. But it does point to the vast strength of City’s opponents, in a tough group that also houses Roma. City, too, have faced problems of ego, imbalance and integration, but the hope is that Manuel Pellegrini has ushered in stability. Without it, the English champions would be just another constellation of hired guns, with no deep feeling for the club.
Their first two Champions League adventures were stopped at the group stage and the third took them only one step further. Winning the Premier League title in May at Liverpool’s expense presented these players with a problem to go with their champagne. No longer could they claim to be in a “developmental stage”, preoccupied with establishing their power over Manchester and England.
No: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the measuring stick now, and Bayern’s injuries seemed to matter less than they would to any other club, because Alaba put on a wonderfully athletic show in midfield, and Lahm confirmed again that he might have been the English Paul Scholes had he not started out as a defender.
An assured start by City soon turned into an ordeal, with even Hart feeling the heat. Twice the hero of the first-half flapped at crosses. The first time he raced back to correct his own error by flicking the shot over his crossbar but moments later allowed a corner to sail over his head. Bayern’s late winner was an injustice against him, at least.
Vincent Kompany had warned before this game: “Everything needs to be perfect,” which was setting the bar high. Too high for nights like this, because a wealth of talent and experience comes flying out of the other corner. For City to fulfill the “time to deliver” rhetoric many things must happen. They need Hart to be in the same reliability ball park as Neuer, Yaya Toure to regain his control and locomotion, Sergio Aguero to be fully fit more often, Jesus Navas to rip down the right and Samir Nasri to win games rather than merely decorate them. They will need team spirit and fierce hunger in this most difficult of competitions, as well as tournament cunning, so they manage their resources while also trying to retain their Premier League crown.
Not much to ask then. By the time Robben came on for Muller, who suffered a night of torments in front of goal, City were starting to feel that surviving this trip to the Allianz Arena would be a feat in itself. It proved beyond them.
As Sheikh Mansour sends the money, he can demand whatever he wants. But the small pocket of City fans who watched with quiet trepidation are not blind to the reality that England’s champions are still not likely winners. City must attack it all the same, and draw encouragement from a tough night in Munich, not retreat into their shells.
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