Manchester City show character in the Champions League

French midfielder Samir Nasri played a big part in Manchester City’s 2-0 Champions League win at Roma last night

Manchester City claimed a 2-0 win at group rivals Roma last night to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The Citizens looked in a perilous position with two games remaining, but a 3-2 home win against group winners Bayern Munich and the win in Rome was enough to see them finish second in the group.

City progressed to the knockout stages at the Stadio Olimpico courtesy of goals from Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta.

Missing  

City went into the game missing a number of their key players. The likes of Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero were all missing, while Spanish playmaker David Silva was only fit enough to come on from the bench.

The players who were missing are the spine of the team and have played a crucial role for the Citizens in two Premier League titles in the last three seasons, so City did well to win such a crucial game without them.

Cynics will say that with the money spent on their squad in recent years they should be able to win without a few players, but any team that were missing such quality players would struggle in such a big game. City deserves credit for their performance.

Character

City are not usually associated with showing character or grinding out results, but last night’s result proved that they can grind out results. In previous games this season Manuel Pellegrini’s side have failed to grind out results.

Maybe the limited amount of players available proved a good thing, as the players banded together to gain the required result. Players who sometimes go missing in games stood-up and produced big European performances.

One of those players was French midfielder Samir Nasri, as the former-Arsenal star scored the opening goal and then set-up Zabaleta to score City’s second goal late-on. In the absence of so many crucial players the Citizens needed some inspiration from midfield.

Nasri was the one to provide that spark in the centre of the park for the English champions and obviously the vital opening goal.

There were many suggestions that City would struggle without their star striker Sergio Aguero. There were even accusations aimed at City that they were a one-man team.

Granted Aguero is without doubt their leading light, but last night’s performance proved that they can win games without the Argentine, even if the performance is not glittering.

Psychological

Manchester City are relatively new to the Champions League and have struggled to adapt to the competition at times in recent seasons. The likes of Manchester United and Chelsea have had to build up experience in the Champions League to be successful.

It is not just about having good players or a good boss, but a different mind-set when it comes to the Champions League. It takes time for teams and clubs to adapt their mentality to Europe’s elite competition, regardless of how much a club has spent on players.

City fans affection for the Champions League seems to have been slightly tepid in recent seasons. Maybe if their team can progress further than the first knockout stage of the competition then City fans will start warming to the competition.

Vital

If City are going to progress further in the competition then it is vital that their key players return sooner rather than later. Aguero looks set to miss the next two months through injury, but the likes of Kompany, Silva and Toure are key players for City.

City could face one of Europe’s biggest teams in the knockout stages, because they finished second in their group. As well as City performed last night they still need their best players available to boss Manuel Pellegrini.

Difficult

Despite the fact that City progressed on match day six, they are still fifth favourites to win the competition at odds of 12/1. However, they will undoubtedly still miss the irreplaceable presence of Aguero up front.

Manchester City will need to play with the same spirit and confidence in the next round to qualify for the quarter-finals. Making the last 16 may just prove to be the easy part for City, as they could face tougher challenges ahead.

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