Last week Great Britain was left with no teams in the Champions League or Europa League.

Current Premier League champions, Manchester City look class in the Premier League- constantly putting in solid performances with good football and attacking strategy which has left them in second place in the Premier League fighting for the title. But when it comes to playing in European competition they look a completely different team who cannot keep up with teams on the continent.

Manchester City’s owners have well publicised the fact that the Champions League is the one trophy they want to win but despite spending big and getting in some of the best players in the world they are still no match to the Barcelonas, Real Madrids or Bayern Munichs of the world. So what do they need to make it in Europe?

When they came up against Barcelona last week, City struggled to force their opponents back to the edge of their own box like they do so well in the Premier League. This means that the key to scoring goals against teams like Barca is in the counter attack. Barca especially is a very attacking team so if you can counter attack then you have a better chance of getting through the defence.

This is where City are going wrong. While their skilful team, who know all the tricks in the book, can outwit many a Premier League player they cannot as easily outwit the best players in the world. City need more pace on the team- Sergio Aguero and David Silva have skill and a superb finish when it comes to scoring goals but they do not have the pace needed to establish a good counter attack.

Jesus Navas is lightening quick and when he was brought on at half time he made a real impact even though he doesn’t have as greater skill level as some of his teammates. That is what City need- someone who can charge at the opposition like their life depends on it and scatter the defence.

The main issue Manchester City have is getting a balance of both. If Pellegrini swapped all his skilful players for fast ones then they probably wouldn’t compete as well in the Premier League which could mean they don’t even make it into Europe. So while it is all very good saying they need more pace they don’t want to go completely mad on the idea.

City need to find the balance of what is good for playing in the Premier League and what is right for playing in Europe. Europe is the next level up and while we like to believe the Premier League is the best League in Europe it is clear to see on this year’s evidence our British teams didn’t quite get it right. From City’s point of view they are desperate to do well in Europe. The planned expansion of the stadium so they can host a Champions League final is just one of the many examples of this.

City require more players who possess a combination of speed and quality in order to make the step up in these fixtures. They don’t want to lose the talent they have but speed is where their current squad is currently lacking.

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