5 Reasons to Believe Manchester City Can Win 2015/16 Champions League

The likelihood that Manchester City will win this season's Champions League feels somewhat remote.

The club have had a difficult relationship with the competition since entering it in 2011, and their form, at present, is worrying.

Sky Blues fans have never really taken to the Champions League. Unfair punishments from UEFA and the whole Financial Fair Play initiative left a bad taste in the mouth, and the team's performances have often been insipid. When UEFA threatened sanctions on the club if fans continued to boo the pre-match anthem, things took a serious turn for the worst.

The mood inside the Etihad Stadium on Champions League nights has been affected. Fans who have already seen significant increases in season-ticket prices are sometimes choosing not to pay the extra for cup games. As a result, the atmosphere has often been lacking.

Supporters have been given little to cheer. The players have been held back. At times, there's almost been a feeling the players don't believe they belong there, so inhibited have their performances been.

There have been some good moments. The win at AS Roma last season under intense pressure was superb, and the display away to Sevilla earlier this season was the best they've managed in the competition. The improvements in this campaign have been clear, even if a soft centre has continued to undermine them somewhat.

It would take a huge effort to win Europe's premier competition. With Barcelona in the draw, everyone else is hoping they slip up. Even Real Madrid and Bayern Munich posses far superior squads to City's.

But the nature of a knockout competition means never say never. The best side doesn't always win. Take Liverpool in 2005 and Chelsea in 2012 as prime examples. This isn't a league. It's possible with some good fortune and a decent draw to make an unexpected impact.

Here are five reasons to believe that, while difficult, City could win the Champions League.

1. The Return of Vincent Kompany

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

If there has been one central problem for City this season, it's uncertainty at the back.

Too often they've looked all over the show, incapable of defending with any order or control.

The return of Vincent Kompany from a calf injury is significant. He, perhaps more than anyone, brings organisation and leadership to the City side. His mere presence in the recent game against Tottenham Hotspur, his first full 90 minutes since early November, was enough to make City look more assured at the back.

And he's a tremendous athlete, too. His size, strength, turn of pace and powers of recovery are famed. He also starts attacks and brings the ball out of defence confidently. When he's fit and at his best, there are few better.

If—and it's a big if—he can stay fit for the remainder of the season, City will undoubtedly improve. A decent run isn't completely out of the question.

2. Distractions Are Fading

Jon Super/Associated Press

With City now out of the FA Cup after the heavy 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday, and with just one game left in the League Cup, Manuel Pellegrini's side will soon have just two competitions to focus on.

That surely will help them. Juggling midweek European games and weekend Premier League fixtures won't be easy, and it's a scenario City aren't vastly familiar with in the second half of the season, but the absence of the two domestic cup competitions will make things simpler.

3. Belief Is Growing in Europe

Jon Super/Associated Press

Topping their group for the first time removed a huge psychological barrier for City. Two group-stage exits followed by two runners-up spots had become a stick to beat them with.

This season, in a group containing last season's finalists, they managed to come out on top and guarantee themselves an easier last-16 scenario.

It was evidence they can mix it with the best and handle the pressure in Europe. Their group-stage campaign wasn't without its difficulties, but there were also some genuinely encouraging signs.

They lost at home to Juventus, but City's performance was unlike so many others they've managed in the competition. They took the game to the Serie A side, controlled possession and looked the dominant team for much of the game. Two sucker punches taught them more harsh lessons, but they were surely buoyed by their more aggressive, impressive play against a decent side.

And at Sevilla, they gave a world-class display against a side with a magnificent European home record. Fernandinho excelled, as did every other player in sky blue, as City dominated from start to finish.

It was a wonderful 90 minutes, perhaps the best of the season for City, which suggests they are improving and overcoming some of the barriers that have held them back in the past.

4. City Players Have Two Managers to Impress

Jon Super/Associated Press

With Pellegrini leaving in the summer and Pep Guardiola confirmed as his replacement, the City players know they are auditioning for next season in every remaining game of the campaign.

Guardiola, a diligent student of the game, will be paying close attention to what's happening at City. He wants to know which players are up to the high standards he sets and which are suited to his style of football.

He's the most coveted manager in the world, a man who won 14 out of 19 trophies during a four-year spell at Barcelona. Working with him is the dream of most players across the game.

The City players, essentially, are fighting for the futures. That surely will eventually see them raise their games beyond the level they've been at for much of the season.

And they also want to send Pellegrini off a success. Two trophies in his first season represented a great return, but two successive trophyless campaigns would leave his tenure clouded by disappointment.

The players respect him, and there will be a desire to ensure he leaves a winner.

5. De Bruyne Set for Comeback

Massimo Pinca/Associated Press

It was initially thought Kevin De Bruyne's injury would see him out for 10 weeks, but he's likely to only miss the Champions League last 16.

When the squad was resubmitted ahead of the knockout phase, De Bruyne was left in, with Samir Nasri making way for Kelechi Iheanacho instead. 

"We have until Monday to make a decision, but we hope Kevin will be ready at the end of March, so he will just miss the one round of 16," Pellegrini said in January. "So I don’t think we will take him out of the Champions League list."

That would be a huge boost. De Bruyne makes a big difference to City. He provides real quality in the final third and has scored 12 goals this season, assisting a further nine. 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.