Clichy: City must make quick progress to compete with Barca

Gaël Clichy has admitted he is unsure if Manchester City have improved from last year when they were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona at the last-16 stage.


Clichy’s assessment of Manuel Pellegrini’s team may concern the club’s Abu Dhabi owners as they have made a £1bn-plus investment in City, with the ultimate goal of winning the European Cup.

Last season City lost 4-1 on aggregate, suffering a 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium in the opening leg. In Tuesday evening’s meeting between City and Barça, again in the last 16, City lost 2-1 as a Luis Suárez first-half double was answered by Sergio Agüero’s 69th-minute goal.

The game featured a last-minute penalty that Lionel Messi missed, with Clichy having been sent off earlier. This was the third red card for City in three legs against the Catalan club after Martín Demichelis was shown one in last season’s match at the Etihad and Pablo Zabaleta followed suit in the return leg at the Camp Nou. Demichelis also gave away a penalty when being sent off, so City have also conceded two spot-kicks against Barça over the course of the three matches played in 12 months.

On Tuesday, City were pinned back throughout the opening period as they were overrun and although Agüero’s strike gives hope before the second leg on 18 March, Clichy is unsure if the team has actually made progress since last year’s tie.

“It’s hard to say. If you look at the game they had more possession, created chances and we run after the ball a lot,” the left-back said. “I don’t know if we have improved since last year but, for sure, we felt in the second half that something could be happening. I’m not saying it’s going to be easier this year than last, it’s crazy to say that, but I do believe the second half [display] could bring something positive and we have to look for a performance from the first until the last minute – the same as we did in the last 45 minutes because we did good.”

Clichy understands the demand from the owners is that City must become better if they are going to match Barcelona and other elite continental sides. “We have to improve. The owner wants to improve quickly, so we have to improve quickly. If we play as we did in the second half, everything is possible. It’s not going to be easy but we are going to try really hard,” said the Frenchman.

“That’s the pressure of the game. You have to take it like this. We are privileged to be in a club like this that wants to improve year after year – and to improve is to go further in the Champions League. Twice in a row we are playing Barcelona, they are a big team and know how to play those kind of games. I think eventually we will get there. Those clubs have been built for several years, 20, 30, 40 years, and this is only the sixth season for us but that’s no excuse.”

Yaya Touré is available for the second leg after serving a three-game suspension. Clichy said: “He’s a really good player. He has achieved things in his career that every player dreams of, so of course it is going to be a big plus. He is one of the main players for us but let’s not talk too much about the second leg because we have a few games before then. But having all the players available for this game will be crucial because a big team needs big players – and that’s what Yaya is.”

Joe Hart, who saved Messi’s penalty, believes City can still progress to the quarter-finals, with a 2-0 victory at the Camp Nou the minimum scoreline required. “Of course there’s hope for the second leg,” he said. “In that second half we showed we can more than live with them. It took a soft dismissal for Gaël or we were definitely going to get back in the game. There’s 90 minutes left, a long way to go and we have belief.”


By Jamie Jackson, Guardian