New Delhi: Former UEFA Champions League winners and defending Premier League champions, Manchester City, find themselves in a precarious position heading into the final matchday of the league stage. The English side currently occupy the 25th spot in the first-ever UEFA Champions League table which leaves them outside of the top 24 teams which stand a chance to proceed into the next round.
Manchester City are two points off the final qualifying spot and face a must win encounter at home against Belgian side Club Brugge later tonight. Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, who guided the Cityzens to the quarter finals of the tournament last time was quick not to add pressure on his side when speaking ahead of this must win encounter. The Catalan highlighted the importance of the fixture but refused to see it as a problem for his side.
He stated, “The situation that we have is that we have to win the game and if not we will not continue in this competition. We want to have another chance to play another two games, to have the chance of the next stages. It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity.” If the Cityzens win their final league game, they live to fight another day but if they fail to emerge victorious, that would hurt the club in more ways than one with the stakes being high.
What do Manchester City have to do to remain alive in Europe?
The new format of Europe’s premier competition has provided a lot of competition as Manchester City remain one of 25 teams that still await their fate in the tournament. The Cityzens have endured a tough league campaign with only two wins in seven games and last matchday’s heavy loss to PSG has left them on the verge of heading out. The equation is simple for City, beat Club Brugge at home and advance to the knockout rounds, fail to do so and exit Europe completely as the new format doesn’t allow teams to drop into the secondary UEFA competitions.
How much prize money can Manchester City lose?
Competing amongst the best teams in Europe in the UEFA Champions League is a matter of pride for every club in the world but pride is not the only thing this tournament provides. The Champions League is also a huge financial boon to all teams that compete in the tournament and the prize money increases as you pass every hurdle. That means, failing to move to the next round will be a big financial hit for City.
All 36 teams participating in the league stage earn €18.62 million while each win sees them win €2.1 million more with a draw fetching them €700k. Reaching the playoff stage would grant a team an additional €1 million but things start getting better after this point. Every club that makes to the last 16 gets an additional €11 million with the quarter finalists making another €12.5 million and the semi finalists making €15 million more.
A spot in the final is worth a guaranteed €18.5 million while the winners get a paycheck of €25 million. All of this combined means that if City fail to beat club Brugge tonight, they will lose out on potential winnings of a whopping €64.5 million. Losing out on such a huge sum of money will surely be a factor but Pep chose to not give it much importance, stating, “I’m not naive enough to know how important this competition is financially for the club but we want to try and go though for sporting reasons.”
Have Manchester City failed at the first hurdle of the tournament before?
If they do fail to make it out of the league stages tonight, this won’t be the first time Manchester City get knocked out at the very first stage of the tournament. They have gotten grouped in the group stages of the tournament twice before, first in the 2011/12 campaign when they were drawn alongside Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal but couldn’t make it into the top two of the group.
It happened again a year later in the 2012/13 season when they finished last in their group as they failed to win any of their six games against Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, and Real Madrid. That was the last time that City ever got eliminated at the first stage and have made the knockouts in every tournament since, reaching the final on two separate occasions, losing one and winning one each.
Have other big names fallen at the first hurdle?
Manchester City won’t be the first major team to exit the tournament at the first stage of the tournament. Five time winners Barcelona have gone out of the tournament in the group stages in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 season while other English teams like Manchester United and Chelsea have exited in the group stages as well. United went out at that stage in the 2011/12 campaign while Chelsea did so in the 2012/13 one.
Can Club Brugge cause an upset tonight?
Reputed statistics platform Opta, have given Manchester Citya 63.8% win probability against Club Brugge but their chances of reaching the last 16 are 41.1%. The Belgians have won three games in their campaign till now including a win against fellow English side Aston Villa. They even held Juventus to a draw but their only away win in the tournament came against minnows Sturm Graz. However, the Belgians are in good form since October 22, having not lost a single game in that timeframe so they would be fancying their chances against the Cityzens.
Premier League champions Manchester City are on the brink of elimination from Europe’s premier competition at the very first hurdle. What does it mean for the English side? Dive in to find out more! Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
