Manuel Pellegrini's men were outclassed in all departments as they crashed out of the Champions League at Camp Nou and it is clear an ageing squad needs major surgery
There was a moment in the first half when the camera found Pep Guardiola, seated among the other awe-struck socios at Camp Nou, with his head in his hands. Lionel Messi had, in the midst of a performance of breathtaking virtuosity, spotted James Milner charging towards him by the touchline and reacted, in one minimalist motion, by poking the ball through the Englishman’s legs and nonchalantly jogging away as his opponent crumpled to the floor.
If Manchester City’s tortuous evening in Barcelona was crystallised in one moment, this was it. Inside the first five minutes their unlikely comeback mission was shown to be impossible as Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez took turns to humiliate their markers and trouble the magnificent Joe Hart. The night’s work soon became about ensuring the mismatches on the pitch were not reflected in the scoreline.
Seven years into the Sheikh Mansour project it was not supposed to be this way. Two Premier League titles and two domestic cups constitute a significant return on all the investment but the quarter-finals of the Champions League remain elusive, and on nights like this it is hard to see how this City team can ever truly compete with the heavyweights of Europe’s elite club competition.
Defeat will subject Manuel Pellegrini’s position to renewed scrutiny but it is difficult to see what else he might have done. The much-maligned 4-4-2 system was ditched in favour of a more conservative five-man midfield at Camp Nou but Barcelona’s superiority in all areas continued unchecked, and neither Yaya Toure nor Fernandinho even thought to track Ivan Rakitic’s run for, astonishingly, the game’s only goal.
If last month’s first leg highlighted the flaws of City’s coach, this second Catalan masterclass exposed the limitations of his players. Suarez and Neymar toyed with Aleksandar Kolarov and Bacary Sagna on the flanks, while Andres Iniesta and Rakitic effortlessly passed the ball wherever they wanted and Messi drifted, embarrassing all who ventured into his orbit. At the other end, Sergio Aguero, the only City player who would truly stand a chance of breaking into Barcelona’s team, gamely waged a one-man war against the home defence all evening, only to miss his best chance to make an impact from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to go.
It is remarkable to think that since acquiring Aguero and Samir Nasri in the summer of 2011, City have failed to sign a single player who has significantly upgraded the starting XI. In that time Barcelona have overcome the losses of Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol and the slow fading of Xavi, as well as bolstering their attack with the transcendant talents of Neymar and Suarez.
By way of mitigation, many at City point to Uefa’s stifling enforcement of Financial Fair Play. Sanctions have certainly curbed the champions’ spending this season but the fact remains that neither Eliaquim Mangala nor Wilfried Bony, signed for a combined outlay of over £60 million (€80m) in the last two windows, were trusted by Pellegrini to start at Camp Nou.
A title-winning spine is in danger of being allowed to grow old together; City’s most picked starting XI in the Premier League this season boasts an average age of 29 years and seven months. Yet there is ample reason to question whether, given his track record, director of football Txiki Begiristain should be the man entrusted with such a rebuilding job.
For all the credit he claims in helping to bring Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o to Barcelona, Begiristain was also responsible for the disastrous Zlatan Ibrahimovic deal and brought the less illustrious likes of Martin Caceres, Henrique, Keirrison and Dmytro Chygrynskiy to Camp Nou at vast expense. His record since moving to the Etihad Stadium has been just as mixed.
It is no secret that Begiristain sees Guardiola as the ideal coach to mastermind City’s ascendance to Europe’s top table on the pitch. But as he watched from the stands on Wednesday, it is equally hard to imagine the Bayern boss salivating at the prospect of coaching a squad on the slide and so clearly inferior to anything he has experienced in Barcelona or Bavaria.
What is clear is that City face a crucial summer. Earlier this week Pellegrini revealed he believes the club needs another “crack”, or superstar player, to relieve the pressure on Aguero and take the team to the next level. On this evidence, they need much more than that.
