Manchester City Prepare for Barcelona and Must Improve on the European Stage

While Manchester City fans might not be overly taken with the UEFA Champions League, the club and its players would certainly like to start making waves in the competition.

Supporters were originally enthused to see the European elite visiting the Etihad to take on their side—but the idea became a little stale over time.

It began with perceived injustices from the competition's governing body, UEFA. Fans weren't impressed with the club being fined for breaching Financial Fair Play Regulations, while issues over dealing with matters of racism involving matches with FC Porto and CSKA Moscow only added to the frustrations.

Though it probably helped that, during that time, City just weren't performing on the big stage.

In their debut season, it was understandable. They perhaps underestimated Napoli in a 1-1 draw in their opening match in the competition, only rescuing a point when Aleksandar Kolarov equalised with a free-kick late on.

Then managed by Roberto Mancini, City travelled to Bayern Munich—their first test against one of the European elite—and lost 2-0, though it was a respectable display in only their second outing. Off the pitch, however, it was a shambles; Carlos Tevez allegedly refused to warm up, starting a spat that would last five months, with the Argentinian heading back home on a self-imposed exile.

Three victories in the final four group matches helped to get the fans settled in the Champions League, even if City failed to qualify for the next stage. They were unfortunate, as their tally of 10 points would have been enough to at least have taken the runners-up spot in all but one of the other tables that season.

But since then, it's almost like City have been feeling sorry for themselves when push comes to shove.

They didn't win a game in the following campaign, becoming the first English team to not register a victory in the groups. They were given a tough draw, being pitted with three other champions—Real Madrid had won La Liga, Borussia Dortmund had triumphed in the Bundesliga and Ajax had topped the Eredivisie.

Mancini's side were English champions, too, though, and should have been far more competitive even in the face of difficult opposition.

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It began a run of under-performances in the big games. For all of City's progress under Manuel Pellegrini in the competition—three times qualifying for the knockout phase and once finding themselves a goal away from making the final—it still feels like the club has been playing with the handbrake on. They've been overawed by the elite sides nearly every time they've been up against them.

It's notable that victories for City against the top clubs have generally come when it's been a dead rubber for their opposition, with few exceptions.

Their 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in 2011 came when the German side had already won the group. Both teams had already qualified when they met again in 2013, and then Pellegrini's men came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the Allianz Arena. True, another goal would have been enough for City to have stolen in ahead of their opponents to take top spot in the table, but there was very little riding on the game.

The 3-2 victory at home in 2014 was similar. City needed to get something to have any chance of staying in the competition after a disastrous start to the campaign, and with Munich already through and down to 10 men, they still found themselves 2-1 down in the closing stages. Only a late charge from Sergio Aguero dragged his team kicking and screaming into life.

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In fact, City have faced Bayern Munich six times in the group phase and won half of their meetings. Each time, the German side had already qualified for the knockout rounds—when it mattered to both teams, City lost.

Four ties with Real Madrid have yielded two draws and two defeats. Five matches against Barcelona have resulted in more City red cards than goals (four to two)—with a record of five losses.

City failed so often in the big games that post-match comments like "there are no excuses" and "we must learn from experiences like this" began to sound like empty words. The fans were seeing little evidence to suggest anything was being done to change the performances.

It's only really the victory at home to Paris Saint-Germain that had something riding on it for both teams, and City were excellent in negotiating the tie over both legs. A 2-2 draw in the French capital, following by a 1-0 success at home was probably one of the club's best moments in top-level European competition—though PSG are arguably, like City, also still striving to become one of the elite rather than being one of those dining at the top table.

The other occasions that are considered as some of City's best displays in the competition all came against teams that the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid would expect to have few problems with. A 3-1 win at Sevilla, while impressive in the circumstances, shouldn't be regarded as a classic match. Similarly, fans of the European elite wouldn't be nodding their head in quiet appreciation of a 3-1 win over Dynamo Kiev.

If City are to be taken seriously as a powerhouse on the continent, they need to start getting results that send shock waves through the competition. Their biggest problems in matches against the best of the best have been remaining solid defensively without switching off for a nanosecond and taking their chances.

The story of the 4-0 loss to Barcelona in October is exactly that. The hosts were gifted a number of goals, Claudio Bravo took his eye off the ball and got himself sent off after a calamity of a pass, and City capitulated under the pressure—despite putting in what was probably their best performance against any of the top teams in a non-dead-rubber fixture.

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Pep Guardiola's tactics of cutting the supply to Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were working perfectly until the red card, and it was only after that it all went to pieces. While it was another in the growing list of "same old story" style performances, the City fans can take great heart from the opening 55 minutes—more than they could in another of their other losses against the elite.

For once, City stood up to their opposition and weren't overawed by the occasion. Guardiola got his players performing with character and personality, which his predecessors Pellegrini and Mancini failed to do in the competition.

It's clear why the club coveted the Catalan for so long. While his plans didn't come to fruition in his first meeting with Barcelona, it was clear they were a lot closer to working than previous managers' attempts.

City are now beyond the stage of just enjoying being in the competition. The fans have to have had enough of just falling short, blaming a refereeing decision or a great save or a defensive error for the defeat. Guardiola certainly doesn't go in for that—he's always talking of analysing how his side could have done better.

If the club wants to be a part of the European elite and be feared by anybody they are drawn against, then they need to start performing when it counts. There's no time like the present, so a win against Barcelona on Tuesday would do wonders for City's standing in the Champions League.