Champions League Win at Bayern Last Year Will Be Pivotal for Man City Success

Manchester City’s domestic dominance in recent years has seen them win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup—the result of huge investment and hard work by a club who in 2008 could only have dreamed of winning silverware. Catching the English sides who had enjoyed years of sustained wealth and success was difficult, but City can now confidently say the gap has been bridged.

The Champions League, however, has so far proven to be a far tougher proposition.

Two group-stage exits and a defeat in the last 16 is all City have to show from their three seasons in Europe’s premier knockout competition, with the club desperate to put that right. Manuel Pellegrini, a manager with Champions League pedigree after he led both Villarreal and Malaga to unprecedented highs in the tournament, will be looking to build on last season’s improvement at City where they progressed beyond the group stage for the first time.

Qualifying from the group was seen by many as long overdue, but those who recognise just how difficult adapting to the Champions League is see things differently. City were drawn in two incredibly difficult groups in their first two seasons in the competition under Roberto Mancini, and were unfortunate in their first attempt not to progress after amassing 10 points from a group containing Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal.

It’s clear, though, that a third group-stage exit would have started to sow seeds of doubt in the City players’ minds—a catastrophe that would have seen a full-blown media post-mortem aimed at uncovering City’s ills. Last season’s performances, which were a significant improvement on anything that had gone before, have given City players some belief.

And none more so than the win in Munich against a Bayern team who, at the time, were seen as Europe’s finest side. They were the reigning European champions and on a a 40-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga. It was a magnificent performance and City’s first win over an elite-level side in their Champions League history, a game which has surely shown the players they can compete with the very best.

City captain Vincent Kompany has spoken about that belief, something he feels his side can take into Wednesday’s game, via David Hytner in The Guardian. “This is the first game of the Champions League, an away game against one of the hardest teams to play in the world right now,” he said. “But we should take confidence out of the last game we played in Munich. We’re up for the challenge.”

There’s little doubt that City have, once again, been drawn in a very difficult group, but enriched by last season’s European campaign and with their improved squad, which now offers Pellegrini options all over the pitch, they look well placed to continue their progress.

The City boss said of Wednesday's match: “Bayern are the most strong team but my team has a great personality to try to win everywhere. We showed that against Arsenal [on Saturday].

“Last season, we lost three early away games to Cardiff, Aston Villa and Chelsea but we went on to beat Bayern in Munich and I think we were the team who won the most away points in the second round of the Premier League. We have the personality to try to play everywhere in the same way. If we continue like this, it will be a very close game against Bayern.”

For the first time since their meteoric rise, City, it seems, believe they belong in Europe.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. Follow him on Twitter here: @RobPollard_