Filed under: Manchester City, Champions League, Football
Manchester City have discovered that an impressive start against inferior opposition in the Premier League is no guarantee of an easy ride in the Champions League.The 1-1 home draw with Napoli was no disaster but it was hardly the start they would have wanted in their first adventure in European's premier cup competition.
It leaves them facing a tough task to qualify from a group that includes Bayern Munich, who put a marker with their opening-game win in Spain, and Villarreal.
More significantly, it perhaps puts their tag as group favourites - and fourth outright to win the whole competition - into perspective.
Because coasting to wins over the likes of Swansea, Bolton and Wigan is one thing, but taking on the might of Europe is quite another.
Manchester City's star-studded squad may have an embarrassment of riches that has seen them rattle in 15 goals in just four games, but battle-hardened European teams have seen it all before.
If anything, it just highlighted the fact that comparisons with defending champions Barcelona have to stop - for now anyway.
Replicating their domestic form on the biggest stage, especially given since the likes of Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry have never played at this level before, was never going to be as straightforward as many suggested.
And so it proved as only Aleksandar Kolarov's free-kick, the unlikely hero given the millions of pounds of attacking talent on show, saved their blushes.
It left captain Vincent Kompany admitting his team-mates have a lot to learn if they want to prosper at the highest level of club football.
He told Sky Sports: "It was important we didn't lose the game.
"But we found this to be very different to the Premier League. It was of course a special occasion for the club and we came up against a good Napoli side.
"We will have to learn from this game, but we have a good enough team to see this through."
While it's easy to laud a team following all the early-season hype, it's just as easy to draw on the negatives following this reality check.
On another day they could have squeezed home if the crossbar, on two occasions, and some rare wasteful finishing hadn't denied them.
But while Roberto Mancini's side are still in the mix to qualify for their initial target of the knockout stages, it looks like they will have to do it the hard way.
They travel to Germany next, where they face the four-times European champions Bayern Munich, and their fate could even be decided at such an early stage.
A defeat at the Allianz Arena, coupled with a Napoli win, would leave them facing an uphill battle in the race to qualify.
As Manchester City's playmakers found out, as they came up against some ruthless tackling from the Italian outfit, the Champions League takes no prisoners.
It remains the most unforgiving of competitions.
And that's the sobering thought Manchester City and their expectant fans have just discovered.
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