Manchester City must improve in Europe to satisfy owner, says Gael Clichy after Barcelona defeat

Gaël Clichy has admitted that Manchester City’s Champions League form is not improving quickly enough to satisfy the owner, Sheikh Mansour, as the Premier League champions come to terms with another humbling against Barcelona.

Clichy, who will be suspended for the second leg after receiving two yellow cards during the 2-1 defeat on Tuesday, rejected the idea that Manuel Pellegrini’s tactical shortcomings were a critical factor in the latest European setback.

The French defender suggested that City’s ongoing struggles in the competition are a consequence of facing an established team accustomed to Champions League success, while City are still relative novices aspiring to European greatness.

“We are privileged to be in a club like this that wants to improve year after year. And to improve is to go further in the Champions League,” Clichy said. “Twice in a row we are playing Barcelona, they are a big team and know how to play those kind of games.

“I think eventually we will get there. Those clubs have been built for several years, 20, 30, 40 years, and this is only the sixth season for us. That’s no excuse. We have to improve. The owner wants [us] to improve quickly so we have to improve quickly. If we play as we did in the second half, everything is possible.”

Asked if he felt City had genuinely improved on last year’s performance against Barcelona, Clichy said: “It’s hard to say. If you look at the game they had more possession, created chances and we [had to] run after the ball a lot. I don’t know if we have improved since last year, but for sure we felt in the second half that something could be happening. There is belief we can make history. It is not going to be easy, but it is possible.”

Pellegrini has come under scrutiny for persisting with a 4-4-2 formation that has consistently failed against Europe’s stellar teams, but Clichy defended his manager by arguing that Barcelona have the capacity to dominate regardless of what line-up they face.

“I [have] played Barcelona many times and even if you played five in the middle I can assure you that you always feel a player short because they know how to move, how to keep the ball,” Clichy said.

“Even if you press well they manage to come out. It’s nothing to do with the two strikers, or four in midfield, because I have played against Barcelona over six years and many times with four in midfield, five in midfield, and the striker coming back so it’s like you have no striker up front. And you still feel that you are playing under numbers.

“I think the choice of the manager to go from the first minute with two strikers showed that we wanted to play offensively and score goals. We didn’t, and we didn’t start well. Their first goal we made the mistake of dropping, but other than this, in the second half we did well with the two strikers.

“We have to carry on like this because that is the way we want to play, the manager wants to play like this and that is the way we are going to win things.

“Barcelona are used to having the ball in every single game. That’s their culture. Of course it is frustrating because we wanted to dictate the game, keep the ball and we did good, but not good enough.”

Clichy did not query his red card but felt Barcelona’s misdemeanours were ignored. “If you play by the rules it is two fouls, two yellows, but they were small fouls. Some of their players made worse fouls and didn’t get booked once.”

For Barcelona’s ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suárez, the return to English soil was a triumph and he suggested booing from City’s fans drove him to score.

“There are certain types of players like me who get more inspired, more motivated when fans boo them,” Suárez said. “It helps motivate you a bit more. In the last games I’ve scored twice against Joe Hart, but that happens in football.”