Samir Nasri himself has come out and said himself this week that City are “lucky” to still be in with a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League, but they still have a huge amount of work to do in the remaining two games against Bayern Munich and Roma to qualify, and need luck to be on their side. First up on Tuesday night: Bayern.
After facing the Bavarians five times in the Champions League since 2011, ‘Bayern’ starts to become a by-word for danger and unpredictability. The results so far have been erratic, with three German wins up against City’s two (the 2-0 win in December 2011, and the famous 3-2 comeback we all remember so well last season). The Blues need to try and throw that record out of the window on Tuesday with a win desperately needed to retain any chance of qualification.
The last time we faced Bayern, back in September, it was a grim day for anyone involved with a blue tendency. A lot of the players put in poor performances, whilst ex-City man Jerome Boateng ensured a disappointing day would be compounded with an injury time winner to give Bayern all three points.
On Tuesday, City will be hoping for a day similar to that of last December, when we came from two down to win at the Allianz Arena. Maybe not in the same fashion, but that win gave us the impetus to go on a long run, having convinced ourselves we were good enough to be among the best with the win in Germany, regardless of how unimportant the game was in reality.
In a game that could be so pivotal in City’s season, the Blues are likely to be without some of their top performers once again. Edin Džeko, Aleksandar Kolarov, and David Silva are all still out with calf, calf and knee injuries respectively; however, Džeko and Silva could be back fit to face Southampton this weekend. On Monday, Sergio Agüero and Stevan Jovetić both reportedly sat out training, sparking concerns they might not be fit to face Bayern, but (in news that’s likely to be music to the ears of most City fans) they’re both expected to be able to play in Tuesday’s crunch game.
We’re likely to see Frank Lampard and Fernando start in midfield against the German champions, with Yaya Touré and Fernandinho both suspended after they were sent off against CSKA Moscow. Fernandinho should be back to face Roma (due to him only getting two yellows) but Yaya will still be suspended for the trip to Italy.
City’s German opponents are also without some of their key players ahead of the match. Holger Badstuber and Javi Martinez are both still missing, as are Thiago Alcantara, Philip Lahm and David Alaba. Claudio Pizarro could also miss the trip to England.
Despite those injuries, many will say that Bayern were expected to play a weak side in this game regardless, with their qualification as group winners already confirmed. However, their unbeaten status in the Bundesliga shows something about the strength of their squad and exactly why they can’t be taken for granted. City haven’t been in the best of form as of late, and can’t afford Bayern time to play with the ball and cause the defence real problems like we saw against Swansea on Saturday.
It’s no secret we’ve been going through a rough patch lately, but maybe we’ve just been needing a game that could really turn us around. The derby looks like it was probably a false dawn, but the Swansea win might turn out to be that game. Nevertheless, a win on Tuesday is vital yet difficult to attain. If we doget it though, it might just end up being a massive boost for us on all fronts this season.
