Manchester City’s emphatic 4-0 win over West Brom on Saturday, which ended the Sky Blues’ six-game winless run, appeared to diminish any lingering concerns about the confidence among the players ahead of a reverse Champions League fixture against Barcelona.
Having suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat in the Nou Camp two weeks ago, City will host the Catalan giants with redemption on their list of priorities. It goes without saying, but City will need to maintain a high level of performance even to come close to overcoming one of the world’s most talented teams.
The scoreline flattered to deceive City on Saturday. Despite controlling the majority of the game, the Citizens offered little compared to what would usually be expected from a Pep Guardiola team.
The first-half performance was strong, with a Sergio Agüero brace giving City a two-goal cushion going into the break. City had maintained a high tempo of passing and relentlessly pressed a stubborn West Brom defence and were reaping the rewards for doing so.
However, the second-half was a completely different story. Guardiola undoubtedly praised his side during the interval and told them that the same would be expected of them for the following 45 minutes. Regardless of what he did or didn’t say, the same level of performance was not on display.
Instead, the fluid, exuberant City of the first half had transformed into a one that lacked enthusiasm and had forgotten that they were playing in a competitive match.
Thankfully, the danger presented by substitute Jonathan Leko stunned City back into life. Leko broke through City’s back line on several occasions, one of which resulted in the ball ricocheting back off of Claudio Bravo’s post. The Sky Blues’ response led to an Ilkay Gündogan double, which truly showed what can be achieved if City fully apply themselves.
The problem is that, on Tuesday night, Barcelona are likely to pose a constant threat rather than an intermittent one. City, with a two-goal lead, were able to come away unscathed after 25 minutes of complacent play against a forward line of James McClean, Salomon Rondon, and Nacer Chadli, but replace that front three with the formidable Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar and you could be looking at a humiliation.
After the 4-0 defeat a couple of weeks ago, that is the last thing the Guardiola will want when hosting his former side. Since leaving Barcelona, Guardiola has failed to beat a Spanish side – having faced Barca, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in six separate meetings – making the clash at the Etihad all the more important to the Spaniard.
If there are players who failed to turn up with their A game, you can expect to see speculation in the morning papers about him wielding the axe once more.
