Manchester City has never won the Champions League and Pep Guardiola has not won it since during his spell at Barcelona in 2012. The coveted trophy eluded him during his three years reign at Bayern Munich. But a 3-1 win at home over former club Barcelona in the mid-week has made their betting lines of winning the competition to slash.
Their most successful outing since they return to the elite competition was last season when they made it to the semi-final earlier before then they have always been sent out of the competition either at the second round stage or quarter-final stage.
The Sky Blues were humbled 4-0 on Guardiola return to the Nou Camp in what could arguably passed for their worst night in Europe in the reverse fixture making football pundits to consider them as an underdog in the competition, until they redeem their image with the win over the Spanish giants who remain arguably bookmakers’ strongest favourites to lift the trophy, ending Barcelona run of successive seven win against English opponents.
The Guardiola side delivered the result the fans and the City hierarchy has been yearning for at the six attempts and since their foray into the elite competition this decade and looked ready to make a statement this season. The first time an English club had scored three or more goals against Barcelona at the group stage since Manchester United did it in 1998/1999 season.
The win, no doubt would have boosted their confidence, a statement Guardiola is likely to passing round now and the three goals meant they have scored more than they had scored in their five previous losses against the Catalans. The players work harder than they have probably done in previous meetings and were a good one for their result.
Currently occupying the second position of the group C Champions League table with seven points, two points behind leaders Barcelona and with two matches remaining, City have a good chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages if they could take their chances.
Their next two matches are against German club Borussia Monchengladbach and at home to Scottish side Celtic, the same opponents Barcelona will play against as the group stage draws to a close. But Celtic are no walkover as City had to fight back three times to draw 3-3 in the first leg at Celtic Park.
While Barca looks good to finish on top of the table, topping the table may enable Man City to avoid clubs like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the round of 16. City title credential will be put to real test in the knock out stages. It could turn to be City season after all.