Although they have recently forced their way into England's elite group after winning two out of the league's last four Premier League titles in 2012 and 2014, one area that Manchester City have tried and repeatedly come up short is in European competition. With the exception of a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (now known as the Europa League) win back in the 1969/1970 season, the Sky Blues have been thwarted repeatedly in their attempts to successfully navigate their way through Champions League.
Since making a return to Europe's premier continental competition at the start of this decade, Manchester City have never progressed past the round of 16. Certainly, being paired twice with Barcelona did not do the cash-rich English side any favors, and really, any match-up against the Blaugrana in the knock-out stages will not make any team rub their hands with glee. However, fortune has smiled on them this season as thanks to finishing top of their group, City have avoided dreaded opponents like the La Liga powerhouse or Bayern Munich and instead have been handed a much easier foe in Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kiev.
After three bad results, Manuel Pellegrini has 90 minutes to save face in the frigid capital of Ukraine
For coach Manuel Pellegrini, this two-legged tie could make or break his term at the Etihad. With the shadow of the incoming Pep Guardiola looming large, he is on borrowed time in order to finish his tenure on a high note. Back-to-back defeats to fellow title contenders Leicester City and Tottenham - both of which happened on their home turf - have seen them slip six points off the title race. And if that was not bad enough, a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Chelsea have seen them dumped out of the FA Cup.
Now, given that his side were involved in four different competitions, Pellegrini can not be faulted with opting to rotate his squad. However, it still hurts to lose, and fans will not care whether their team's coach chose B-side featuring largely unknown youth players, they nonetheless were dreaming of the potential to make it an unprecedented quadruple at the end of this season.
As such, with a Capital One Cup final clash against Liverpool coming up next, followed by another must-win league game versus the Reds, the pressure will be on the Chilean tactician to make sure that he can properly rally his side to get back to winning ways in the Ukrainian capital tomorrow evening. Fortunately for the visitors, they will be taking on a team that have been out of action for nearly two months.
And having chosen to play youngsters in order to rest key players like Joe Hart, Sergio Aguero, and Yaya Toure, there will be simply no excuse for Pellegrini and his troops to return to England without a positive result to ensure a smooth passage to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
Will his FA Cup gamble prove to be an educated risk? Or tactical folly?
Should they do what is expected and win, City will set themselves up nicely in terms of confidence and improved form ahead of their Capital One Cup final versus the Reds - which represents their first clear-cut chance at winning at least one trophy this season. This, in turn, could create a positive domino effect as they prepare to face Jurgen Klopp's squad just four days later in a must-win Premier League match if they want to get back into the title race, and from then on, things could be on-wards and upwards for Pellegrini as he seeks to finish his stint in England without a black mark on his CV.
However, a loss will be simply unacceptable for Manchester City fans, many of whom are still seething after seeing their side humiliated by Chelsea this past weekend. A defeat will show that Pellegrini's FA Cup gamble was perhaps not an educated risk, but rather a show of tactical naiveté that has backfired in the worst possible way. And failure tomorrow against Dynamo Kiev will certainly leave Manchester City's current coach facing some tough questions as he hopes to conclude his three-season reign at the Etihad on a good note.
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