Man City lost 2-1 to Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Manchester City’s wretched Champions League form continued on Tuesday evening as they lost 2-1 at home to Spanish giants Barcelona.
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Although they have given themselves a fighting chance thanks to Joe Hart’s late penalty save, the result has heaped further question marks on the future of Chilean boss Manuel Pellegrini and his captain Vincent Kompany.
It is understood that City’s Arab owners set the reigning Premier League champions a minimum target of reaching the Champions League quarter finals – something they have failed to do since their return to Europe’s top competition in the 2011-12 season. Tuesday’s result means the chances of that happening look bleak, and with City also well adrift of Chelsea in the title race, it could be the beginning of the end for their 61-year-old manager.
In the post-match interviews, full back Clichy accepted they had underperformed yet again. “We have to improve. The owner wants to improve quickly so we have to improve quickly”, he told the Daily Mirror. “We’re privileged to be in a club like this – that wants to improve year after year. And to improve is to go further in the Champions League.”
Kompany echoed his colleague’s sentiments. “It was mainly down to us not turning up,” he said. “Teams can play well and teams can beat us, it happens. But the way we played in the first-half wasn’t us.”
The second leg in the Nou Camp is on Wednesday 18th March.