Sheiky City must improve to impress in Europe

This week the Champions League returned to our screens and provided the sort of excitement we would expect from the biggest competition in club football.

Again we saw the usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo explode into action on the biggest stage, meanwhile only two of the four English teams managed maximum points while current holders Chelsea managed a point against Juventus.

Perhaps the biggest game of week one took place in Madrid as Real welcomed money bags Manchester City in what was being described as the game of two giants…..but was it?

Madrid are chasing their 10^th Champions League trophy while City are chasing their first, while taking part in just their second Champions League adventure under mega rich owner Sheik Mansour. Agreed both sides lined up with some of the best footballers in the world going toe to toe, however the end result went someway to showing that City may still not be ready to lift the trophy, and cannot yet be labelled as a European giant.

In time Mancini will develop the blue half of Manchester into genuine Champions League contenders, however he will have to ensure his side provide much sterner performances when making the journeys to the likes of Madrid.

City led the game 2-1 in the 86^th minute only for their defensive frailties to show again as firstly Benzema curled Mourinho’s men level before that man Ronaldo unleashed a shot that somehow evaded the normally solid Vincent Kompany before swerving underneath a stranded Joe Hart who in fairness had performed sensationally to keep City in the game.

Mancini will be well aware that City must become more solid in defending if they are to make it out of what is a very tough group. With games against Dortmund and Ajax to come, Mancini will have to ensure his side gain six points, otherwise it could be Europa League football post-Christmas.

If City do make it from group D it would be hard to see them finding themselves getting past further tests like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the latter stages. Of course City fans believe that now is their time, unfortunately for them and Mancini the club remains yet to be considered a giant of Europe and will continue that way for several years to come.

Let me know what you think. Can Manchester City win the Champions League this season? 

Sulky Suarez Saves Liverpool.....Just

In what can only be described as an emotional week for Liverpool FC, it took a Luis Suarez 70^th minute equaliser against Sunderland to earn the Reds just their second point of the campaign; however the draw fails to cover over the major cracks that are forming over the red side of Merseyside.

This week the families of the 96 that tragically lost their lives on the 15^th April 1989 in the Hillsborough disaster received some justice as it was revealed that the Liverpool fans were no way at fault for their own deaths, however it was a major cover up from the police who changed 116 official documents to make it seem that fan behaviour was to blame.

While the families have received at least some justice, one man on Merseyside is certainly not getting any justice from his players who he works closely with to try and restore the glory days to Anfield, however after four games Brendan Rodgers is not getting the performances neither he or the fans expect.

Against Sunderland, Liverpool were confident on the ball but yet again lacked any attacking penetration as the decision to allow Andy Carroll to leave Liverpool on loan looked even more peculiar as an ineffective Fabio Borini struggled while a stroppy Suarez offered little other than a neatly taken goal to level the game.

Worryingly for Rodgers even the likes of Steven Gerrard were unable to drag Liverpool out of their slump and while he remains Liverpool’s most influential player, the club cannot continue to expect their very own legend to lead them out of their dark days.

Luis Suarez again looked uninterested for the majority of the game and even threw himself to the floor in a pathetic way to try and earn a penalty which rightly lead to the striker being yellow carded.

No one ever said that Rodgers had an easy task when taking on the role as manager of Liverpool, however four games in and with no league win, the task is becoming increasingly tougher for Rodgers.

I for one hope that after the emotion of this week has passed the club will be able to look ahead to establishing themselves back amongst the big teams in Europe.

Let me know what you think. Will Liverpool and Rodgers get it right this season or should Liverpool accept for now that they are a long way from Europe’s top table?