MAN CITY 2 – 0 Bayern Munich – MY THOUGHTS

The end of our maiden Champions League adventure. It was an odd feeling at the end of the game last night; defeating one of the best sides in the world, albeit one short of a few players, is no small feat but it was with a sense of disappointment and deflation that the final whistle was greeted.

It was always going to be the case once our destiny lay in the hands of others, and with Napoli securing victory away to Villarreal, City’s comfortable win at home against Bayern Munich was irrelevant. But that should take nothing away from how we’ve performed in the competition this season. Acquiring ten points in the toughest group is an impressive achievement and it’s only down to a couple of below-par spells that mean we now enter the Europa League.

So despite being knocked out at the group stages, this hasn’t been too disappointing a campaign in Europe. I’ve talked before about how this will be a superb learning experience and as long as we continue to work hard to improve and rectify our mistakes, we’ll bounce back stronger next year.

The opening game of the group, at home to Napoli, was a key fixture in determining how the group panned out. Having drawn that, we then travelled to Munich and it meant that our backs were against the wall almost immediately. Two successive victories against Villarreal gave us renewed hope but in the crunch match in Naples, we failed to perform and thus, this win meant nothing.

However, I genuinely feel a sense of optimism should remain. We’ve lost just two matches this season (Napoli and Bayern away) and lead the Premier League by five points, playing some outrageously good football in the process. Should we retain our focus and not be distracted by the Europa League, we’re all set for a superb season and it’s worth noting that performing well domestically was the principal objective this season.

Even last night, there were plenty of positives, most notably the way in which we rose to the challenge of defeating Bayern. Admittedly, and very much understandably, they played their reserve team but it was still a tough ask to break them down. That we did, and it was pleasing to see Samir Nasri again show just what he can do. With David Silva exceptional this season, the Frenchman has found it tough to display his talent, but in the past couple of games, he’s looked to be finding some form.

All over the pitch, there were impressive displays and it was a sign of how quickly this team has learnt from previous errors that fills me with hope. With Gareth Barry remaining disciplined in providing cover for the defence, we were less susceptible to a counter-attack, and with Edin Dzeko proving a handful, we had a target-man able to bring others into play. Should we continue to learn and bounce back, we’ll be all set for a better run next year.

Opposition View: Having already qualified as group winners, Bayern fielded a much-changed side and it meant that they were on the back foot for much of the game. There was no pace or trickery of Ribéry to threaten out wide, nor the physicality of Gomez to trouble our defence. Instead, we were faced with a team content to sit back, defend in numbers and hope to muster something on their rare forays forward. Bayern’s players were still very technically able though didn’t have the bite to worry us greatly. They are, however, one of the sides to avoid, such is the ability of their first eleven.

As for the Blues, we now head into a demanding run of fixtures. Next up is a trip to Chelsea on Monday night, followed by a home meeting with Arsenal. We’ll have to show character to maintain our lead at the top of the table, but if last night is anything to go by, we’ve got the confidence, belief and ability to do just that.

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