It is a fitting destination. Spain has provided Manchester City with inspiration and frustration in equal measure.
If their gaze is often diverted towards the Iberian peninsula, it is partly because of the preponderance of Spanish-speaking players in their squad, yet the influence runs deeper than that.
Chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain are the Barcelona alumni who are trying to emulate their old club. Manager Manuel Pellegrini’s exploits, especially in the Uefa Champions League, with Spain’s supposed lesser lights earned him an opportunity at the Etihad Stadium.
If all roads begin in Spain, some have ended there.
City’s last two European campaigns have culminated against Barcelona. A club with aspirations of conquering Europe have taken their leave at Camp Nou in successive seasons, both in the round of 16. Their prospects for future success depend on a return to Spain.
Pellegrini took Villarreal to the 2006 semi-finals and Malaga to the 2013 quarter-finals. His immediate aim is to steer City out of the group stage. Lose at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and progress will be in doubt again.
Pellegrini says that the double-header between City and Sevilla is likely to determine who qualifies along with Juventus.
The Premier League leaders won the first meeting at home 2-1, but theirs has been a campaign of brinkmanship. Back-to-back victories against Borussia Monchengladbach and Sevilla have been procured in the final minutes. Performances have been unconvincing, but the points total is promising.
Their home form has prompted criticism but, while Barcelona have twice eliminated them in the knockout stages, City have lost only one of their past seven away group games, against Bayern Munich. Avoid defeat against Unai Emery’s team and they can envisage qualification.
They are rarely deemed a particularly pragmatic outfit but ground their way to a point in a Manchester derby stalemate last week. Captain Vincent Kompany envisaged similar resistance.
“We are well organised so we can go out there and be a solid team if it becomes a difficult game,” he said. “That’s important.”
Indeed, City have only conceded two goals with the Belgian on the pitch this season and one, against Norwich City on Saturday, came courtesy of a howler from Joe Hart. The goalkeeper, as Kompany said, has often been City’s outstanding performer in continental competition.
The concerning element has come when his teammates have been outmanoeuvred by sides compiled rather more cheaply.
Sevilla can field a starting XI that cost around £25 million (Dh142m). City can select a striker purchased for the same price. Indeed, with Sergio Aguero injured and Kelechi Iheanacho ineligible, Wilfried Bony represents the only available option.
The Ivorian’s misses have pockmarked recent matches. He goes to Spain with a point to prove. Manager Pellegrini has sounded typically supportive, but the bluntest part of his message was: “He must demonstrate why he’s here.”
Bony requires a performance, and a goal, to indicate that he belongs at this level. This may yet be the defining game of his City career.
He cited Champions League football as a reason for joining, but his experience of the competition has been dispiriting. He started and spurned chances against both Juventus and Sevilla and had been removed, as Pellegrini dispensed with a specialist striker, before Kevin de Bruyne’s injury-time decider against the Europa League winners. That is the alternative strategy for Pellegrini.
He is likely to bolster his midfield by reintroducing the dual shield of Fernando and Fernandinho.
While David Silva is unlikely to return, Pellegrini could play with a free-form collection of creators ahead of them. Yaya Toure is one of them, a 2009 winner in this competition but one who has not reached the quarter-finals since leaving Barcelona.
“The Champions League has been difficult but it’s a big target this season,” the Ivorian midfielder said.
If City are to break through their glass ceiling, they need to ensure they suffer no more pain in Spain.
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