Manchester City need to learn from last season’s Champions League league phase disaster | OneFootball

Manchester City begin their UEFA Champions League league phase campaign tomorrow night against Napoli. A tough test awaits Pep Guardiola’s side against Antonio Conte’s team at the Etihad. The game represents a new beginning in Europe’s premier club competition. City will be eager not to repeat the mistakes of last season, as they had to wait until their final fixture of last season’s Champions League league phase against Club Brugge to book their place in the knockout stage of last season’s Champions League.

To avoid a similar fate this season, Manchester City must make a strong start to the Champions League league phase. A good performance against Napoli is imperative to City working its way into this season’s Champions League.

Manchester City can not afford to stutter once again in the Champions League.

Last season, Manchester City finished 22nd in the Champions League league phase table. They won three games, drew two, and lost three matches. Pep Guardiola’s side started the Champions League strongly, then fell into a hole. Their poor run in the middle of last season’s Champions League league phase campaign saw them suffer defeats to Sporting CP, Juventus, and PSG. Those three defeats all came in the middle of Manchester City’s poor run through November to January last season, where injuries and poor form took hold of Pep Guardiola’s side.

Speaking during his pre-game press conference before tomorrow night’s match against Napoli, Pep Guardiola referenced Manchester City’s stuttering Champions League campaign of 24/25. He said injuries and other factors hampered City’s Champions League league phase campaign last season. The Manchester City manager said: “Champions League was worse than the Premier League, but in the moment, we played the defining moment, October, November, December as our worst period with many injuries.”

“It was when we made few points, we had 15-16 injuries that no team can sustain. Rodri was a massive absence but not the only reason why.”

Manchester City will want to avoid a similar fate to a year ago. They have eight fixtures to play to shape their Champions League league phase campaign. A poor early result won’t be a death blow to City’s Champions League hopes. But it would put pressure on a City side that is slowly being rebuilt. So it is imperative that they pick up a result against Napoli tomorrow night at the Etihad for their own belief.

A win against a tough Napoli side will set Pep Guardiola’s side up for their Champions League campaign.

As mentioned above, it does feel imperative that Manchester City start their Champions League campaign with a good result. But they will face a tough test against Antonio Conte’s Napoli side. Conte’s side is well-organised, as all Antonio Conte teams are. They are strong in midfield, organised in defence, and are dangerous going forward. There is no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne will be eager to prove a point against his former team. Rasmus Højlund and Scott McTominay are known threats. But there is quality throughout Napoli’s squad. They are the current Serie A champions and one of the early favourites to progress deep into the Champions League. So City will need to play and defend well to pick a victory tomorrow night.

Summary.

A good result for Manchester City against Napoli will be the perfect building block for their 25/26 Champions League campaign. With a new-look team, Pep Guardiola’s side needs to continue the momentum they built in Sunday’s derby win over Manchester United. A good result against Napoli will do that. But more important than that, it will lay the foundation for them to avoid a tough Champions League league phase campaign. They walked that path last season and will not want to do it again this season.