Manchester City: Assessing Blues' Champions League Chances After Bayern Munich

Manchester City’s Champions League encounter against Bayern Munich was supposed to announce the Citizens' arrival to the European stage as serious contenders for club football’s biggest honour.

Instead, Roberto Mancini’s men left the Allianz Arena with unanswered questions and doubts about their championship credentials.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Manchester City were comprehensively outclassed in the midfield, despite having the creative flair of David Silva, Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure at their disposal.

Nasri was absent for large portions of the game, leaving Silva to wrestle with Bayern’s holding combination of Schweinsteiger and Dias. The wiry Spaniard’s work rate was omnipresent in the game, but he did not receive the support he needed from Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure to make a real impact on the game.

The absence of support in the midfield forced Aguero and Dzeko to come back desperately deep, limiting Manchester City’s firepower. It is not unsurprising that their attack frequently broke down each time they entered Bayern’s final third.

At the same time, Manchester City’s defence was left overly exposed and as the game wore on it was all too easy for Franck Ribery to cut in from the wing and fire in shots at will. Manchester City seemed to set up camp in the middle of midfield, but was unprepared to defend it.

Similarly, Schweinsteiger dominated the midfield and looked a league apart from Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure.

If Manchester City is going to go further in the competition, Silva and Nasri need more support from the holding midfielders. While it offers a new dimension to City’s attack when the two creative midfielders drift into the centre of the pitch, they did it far too often against Munich, leaving the flanks exposed.

At the same time, the holding midfielders need to go about their defensive duties better. Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger frequently found themselves with acres of space in the middle of the pitch.

It is not uncommon for a team to perform badly in a match, and at the end of the day, Manchester City cannot be written off when Munich travel to the Etihad Stadium on December 7. What is more disconcerting is the arrogant attitude displayed by some club members, and Mancini’s apparent inability to manage them.

Despite their lacklustre performance on the pitch, it is two touchline tantrums that are dominating today’s back pages.

Edin Dzeko cut a dejected figure after being substituted for Nigel De Jong early in the second half. This minor tantrum, however, is far out-shadowed by the fiasco surrounding Carlos Tevez and his future at the club.

The Bosnian striker was just showing his ambition to perform for Manchester City. Tevez, on the other hand, was displaying a childish display of stubbornness and ill-temper.

It is the first time in Roberto Mancini’s reign that the media spotlight will be heavily focused on his man-handling skills.

In the past, it was centred on Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez. Now, it seems that further media coverage, combined with failure, could force dissent to spread amongst the Manchester City ranks.

This is a long shot, but it is an issue that Mancini needs to be prepared for. It is important that he is proactive in crushing any potential rebellion, rather than reactive, which he has been with Tevez.

Despite the problems, the fact remains that Manchester City has amassed a squad full of the world’s finest footballing talent. Bayern Munich is a fantastic team; losing 2-0 to them is disappointing, but not a disaster.

If the club is to go in the later stages of the competition, it is needless to say that these are teams they need to beat. The most important thing now, however, is regrouping the midfield, and adding more goals to Dzeko’s and Aguero’s tally this weekend.

City’s failure to defeat Bayern away from home means that Norwich City remain the only English team to defeat the German giants at their home ground.