Has the time for Manchester City to lift the Champions League title finally come? That’s a question every football fan wonders.
City has arguably one of the best squads and coaches, Guardiola, in the world, but they still haven’t managed to win the most prestigious European trophies. The remarkable story of the Citizens rise under Sheikh Mansour began in 2008, but the club’s failure to win the Champions League since then has become somewhat of an anomaly.
This year Man City enters the competition as favourites to win it and Powerplay gives you the opportunity to bet if they are gonna make it this time.
Manchester City is a team that is fully equipped to lift any type of trophy that comes their way. But when it comes to European football they seem to struggle.
When asked what is the reason why City still haven’t won the Champions League despite having such a team, Pep Guardiola's answer was very simple: Real Madrid.
The Citizens have had unbelievable domestic success in England since the Spaniard coach joined them in 2016. Since then they have lifted the Premier League and the League Cup titles four times, and have one FA Cup. The team qualified for the Champions League in 11 consecutive seasons since 2011-12, but we’ve only seen them once play at the final, which they lost to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.
Last season we saw City as one of the favourites to win the Champions League after reaching the semi-final and beating Real Madrid 4-3 in the first leg. But it all went wrong in the second one, the Spanish giants staged a remarkable semi-final comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu to win 6-5 on aggregate.
When asked at the 10th anniversary of City's takeover, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak made it clear that Champions League success was expected "sooner rather than later."
But he pointed out that City might have one of the best teams in the world, but they struggle due to playing in one of the most demanding leagues in the world, the Premier League.
Sheikh Mansour's continued investment in the City team, spending over £1.49 billion on transfers since 2011-12 - more than any other club in the world.
Guardiola brought Ruben Dias for £65m and Jack Grealish for the mesmerizing fee of £100m. The Citizens signed Kalvin Philips from Leeds for £42 million. The club knows that even with the likes of such footballers and one of the best midfielders in the world Kevin De Bruyne, they might still struggle to win the Champions League. That’s why they signed one of the best young talents in the world - Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian superstar has stunned every football fan scoring 18 goals so far this season. City had purchased a real diamond as Haaland managed to find the net from every angle in every stadium.
Erling Haaland is just five goals apart from last year's Golden Boot winners, and now he’ll have a month off duty, as Norway failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar this winter.
Haaland has already scored five goals in the Champions League this season. When Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003, the Blues needed five years to reach a Champions League final and nine to win it. But this year with the likes of Haaland, Foden and KDB, it might be the year where we finally see Man City lift the prestigious title.
