Everything has fallen into place so neatly for Manchester City early this season that there was a question for their captain, Vincent Kompany, in the padded leather seats of their training ground yesterday, about whether Chelsea could be considered a threat any more. Already, there is an assumption that Manuel Pellegrini's team can make the Premier League a procession.
They certainly exude the confident air of a team who have quickly shaken off last season's disappointments, even if it is still too early to make definitive judgments. City's immaculate record after five matches means they have broken a 103-year-old club record with 10 straight league wins. They have not conceded a goal in nine hours and 26 minutes of play. With that kind of backdrop, their Champions League group has taken on a different complexion since the draw was made.
City, again, got the worst draw of all the English clubs, but none of their opponents, starting with Juventus on Tuesday, are playing strongly. Last season's finalists have not won a game in Serie A so far, and Sevilla are the same in La Liga, while Borussia Mönchengladbach have lost their opening four matches and are bottom of the Bundesliga. Together, City's opponents have played 10 matches without a victory, in stark contrast to the form shown by Pellegrini's men. As Kompany said: "If we are not confident after what we have done so far, we will never be confident."
Anthem
Equally, it is never easy to be sure what to expect of City when the Champions League anthem plays on their side of Manchester. It is usually to the accompaniment of boos from supporters who resent the way Uefa’s financial fair play system stalled their club’s momentum. There have been disappointing crowds and the team have won only three out of their past 11 Champions League home games.
“Definitely, we have not handled most of our games in the Champions League well,” Kompany said. “It is quite simple. People have been saying it for the last three or four years. And as long as we don’t perform and show our quality in the Champions League, as we have in the Premier League, there will always be something left behind that leaves us unsatisfied.”
There are mitigating circumstances in that City have gone out over the past two seasons to Barcelona in the last 16, but it has still been a disappointing return. Kompany’s verdict, one imagined, would have struck a chord with the club’s owners in Abu Dhabi, as well as the Belgian’s colleagues in the dressing room. Kompany described the team as “disappointed and frustrated from many seasons”.
Pellegrini will be without Sergio Agüero, who has a knee injury suffered in Saturday's win at Crystal Palace. Fernandinho and Samir Nasri,too, have slight injury problems but David Silva and Raheem Sterling are available again.
“It is another year, and another season full of hope,” Kompany said. But City want a different outcome this time. – Guardian Service
