What will it take for Manchester City to lift the Champions League?

It is well reported that Manchester City need to lift the Champions League before they are considered a European great, despite their recent dominance in England.

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The first time City played in the competition was back in 2011-12 where we were placed in a group with Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal, some may remember this saw us enter the Europa League and subsequently get knocked out of the competition.

Our most successful run came under Manuel Pellegrini in 2015-16 where we were knocked out in the semi-finals by Real Madrid, on an aggregate score of 1-0.

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Last year, no doubt many fans believed we could reach the final once we faced Lyon in the quarterfinals, arguably if it was over two-legs we may have pulled it back, but it wasn’t to be.

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A player with success in the competition may be the final switch so in this case, this would mean getting Lionel Messi could be the key to success. With his brilliance and experience, he could guide our players along with Pep.

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However, as City are not known to have the most solid of defences in the past, is this season’s brick wall of Dias and Stones/Laporte the final cog. All City fans will be hoping our current form translates to the Champions League. We begin the knockout stages against Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday at 20:00 (GMT).

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Gary Lineker previously tweeted that City are a “frightening thought for the rest of the league… and Europe”. But how true is this?

Of course, City are looking incredible in the league 10 points clear at the top, but will we see the same City in Europe?