Manchester City: Where Roberto Mancini Got It Wrong Against Bayern Munich

After a decent display against Napoli and a hard fought win against Everton, this was going to be Manchester City's baptism by fire in the Champions League. Whether or not this squad of players was ready for the big stage as a unit remained to be seen.

For the first half hour, City equipped themselves well and were unlucky not to be in the lead after Dzeko and others could have netted for Mancini's men. Not to mention they also had one of the two decent penalty claims turned down by the referee before Gomez struck. But once Ribery started causing problems on the left hand side of defense, there was only going to be one winner. Mancini put out what is definitely considered his starting eleven, so why were they so easily brushed aside by the men from Munich?

Most of the credit for the result should go to Bayern, but there are a few things that Mancini got wrong tactically in the match that allowed the Munich side to dominate after the initial stages. He also didn't make the necessary adjustments when the tide started to turn to stem the flow of Bayern's attacking prowess. 

When setting out his best starting eleven, the coach has a immediate weakness in terms of the movement in the front four. With both Nasri and Silva on the outside of the front striker Dzeko, there is a lack of width because both outside players prefer to turn inside instead of towards the byline. When this happens it can result in some excellent link up play and trouble many defenses. But away from home in their first big Champions League test against a team that has not conceded a goal in 800 some minutes, it just didn't pan out. It's evident in the fact that we barely mentioned Nasri's name before he was subbed off for James Milner. 

Their formation, and the tendencies of their front men, require the fullbacks to get forward to provide width unless your attacks become predictable. Micah Richards has looked a revitalized player since the start of the season and has put in some great performances. But his attacking prowess, and therefore his positional vulnerability, meant that when the ball is lost Bayern were allowed more space to roam on the counter. Ribery demonstrated this consequence numerous times on Tuesday evening. 

The match was really lost in midfield. Somehow with two holding midfielders, Manchester City were incapable of providing protection for the back four. When on the break, Bayern moved the ball quickly from defense into attack and the midfield of Schweinsteiger and Gustavo, mirroring Barry and Toure, won the battle. When two 4-2-3-1 sides square off, this is usually where the match is won or lost. Mancini was rightly slow to take off attackers for midfielders at two goals down, but the introduction of De Jong finally closed down the space that Bayern attackers were exploiting.

Another misstep was the high line that they were displaying at the back. It is always risky against a side like Bayern to push so high up the pitch because mistakes can be costly. Manchester City looked vulnerable to balls over the top and were caught out more than a couple times employing the offside trap.

All in all, this should be a learning experience for the side. Mancini has a lot of previous Champions League experience, though not the greatest record, and so do most of the players. It's a wonder that for some reason they seem overwhelmed at times. Now they have taken one point from two matches and will have to perform at their best for the remainder of the group stage if they would like to advance.

If Mancini can make the right moves and if the players can thrive on the home atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium, you might see a similar score line in City's favor next time around. Let's not ruin this tactical discussion with any talk of the Tevez issue. It was just fantastic to see so many great players on display on one pitch, which is what the Champions League is all about.