City look for German fissures

Manuel Pellegrini faces the first major test of his Champions League credentials as Manchester City manager on Wednesday when his side tackle defending champions Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium.

City have been eliminated from the Champions League at the group phase in the past two seasons and one of the reasons why Pellegrini was selected to succeed Roberto Mancini was his track record at continental level.

Real Madrid went out in the last 16 under Pellegrini’s stewardship in 2010, but he steered modest Villarreal to the semifinals in 2006 and led Malaga to the quarterfinals last season. In all-conquering German and European champions Bayern, Pellegrini could not have asked for a more demanding first European home fixture with City.

However, having worked in Spain for the duration of Bayern coach Pep Guardiola’s spectacular four-year tenure at Barcelona, the 60-year-old Chilean believes he knows how to get the better of him.  ‘It is very difficult at this moment to improve with Bayern because they won the last three competitions, but he (Guardiola) will find a way because he is a very good manager,’ said Pellegrini.

‘He knows the way we play, so he will try different things. But we know things about Guardiola, too. I lived in Spain nine years so I know exactly the way Guardiola plays.’  Both teams opened their Group D campaigns with 3-0 victories.  Captain Vincent Kompany has downplayed the significance of the defeat, which left the 2012 English champions five points behind early leaders Arsenal after six games.  ‘We have lost games before. Every team in the world has lost games,’ he said.

‘It is about the reaction, what you do next game. If anything, I think we will be more motivated now to make it right.’ Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, though, says City’s possession-oriented style could unwittingly hand Bayern a chance to shine.  ‘We’ll meet them eye to eye,’ said the Germany international. ‘City are a team who like to have the ball. They want to control the game and not just hit us on the counter-attack, like all our other opponents.

‘That will give us a chance to show our qualities.’ Guardiola could call upon close-season signing Mario Gotze, who was an unused substitute against Wolfsburg after overcoming an ankle problem he sustained in August’s UEFA Super Cup success against Chelsea.