City hold Euro aces – if it all kicks off again
UEFA’S latest plan for the resumption of the Champions League could be a boost to City’s ambitions.
The Blues were well-placed to reach the quarter-finals of the competition after a memorable 2-1 defeat of Real Madrid in the first leg, at the Bernabeu.
But the second leg was postponed as Real’s training complex was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which was quickly followed by the shelving of all football across Europe.
Uefa and the domestic leagues have been unable to re-schedule the competitions, but there appears to be a determination to complete this season.
And a letter last week, signed by Uefa, the European Club Association and the European Leagues association, said that the preferred format - providing national governments lift the current social isolation rules - was to finish the domestic league competitions and then switch to the Champions League and Europa League.
That would mean an intense round of Premier League fixtures in
June, followed by the European tournaments in both July and August.
The way European and domestic competitions normally intertwine tends to leave English clubs at a disadvantage, as their season is normally relentless from February until May.
And when a club is still fighting for both trophies, that intensity becomes even more difficult.
But by disentangling the two competitions, City’s planning for the second leg against Real, and the subsequent rounds, should they go through, will be more straightforward.
Liverpool should wrap up the league title very quickly on the resumption, needing just two wins from their nine remaining games to be sure.
And while City still need to secure the runners-up spot and show due respect to the Premier League - as well as the FA Cup, if it continues Pep Guardiola’s planning becomes less complicated.
Guardiola will still play strong
teams in the Premier League, because he always does, but everything he does for most of June can be geared towards doing well in the Champions League the following month.
Other major contenders for the elite European trophy will not have that luxury - Barcelona and Real Madrid are still slugging it out for the La Liga title, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig are similarly engaged in Germany, and for once Juventus have a scrap on their hands in Serie A. That leaves City, Atletico, Atalanta, Napoli and Lyon - presuming Chelsea don’t pull off a second leg miracle at Bayern - to focus wholly on preparing for their next steps in the Champions League. The sheer competitiveness of the Premier League is another factor which makes English clubs’ bids for European success even harder to achieve.
For instance City, if they saw off Real in the second leg, would have faced a quarter-final perched neatly
Bouncing from midweek European games to English battles won’t happen
Stuart Brennan
in the middle of a clash with champions-elect Liverpool and a difficult trip to relegation battlers Southampton.
Imagine they drew Atletico Madrid in the quarters.
The Spaniards would face City in the middle of games against Real
Valladolid and Levante - not quite as taxing. Bouncing from European midweek games to English battles at the weekend will not happen, if the season ever does get underway again.
That could only benefit to City’s chances.