Manchester City's worst defeats in the Champions League
For a club so hell-bent on winning the competition, Manchester City have a complex relationship with the Champions League.
The club's current goal-getting Erling Haaland may love the famous anthem - regularly playing it on his car radio and using it as his alarm - but City's fans are not so enamoured, repeatedly drowning out the orchestral notes with boos and whistles.
Following just one season in the European Cup - which was swiftly concluded after two matches in 1968 - City's relationship with Europe's elite competition has been moulded over the last decade.
While there have been plenty of highs, City's plight to lift the big-eared trophy has endured some crushing lows along the way. Here are the deepest depths the club has sunk to in the Champions League.
7. Group stage - Ajax 3–1 Man City (2012)
Manchester City's first few seasons among Europe's elite were defined by the strength of their group-stage opponents.
In 2012, City failed to win a single game in a quartet containing the reigning champions of Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Eredivisie holders Ajax inflicted City's heftiest defeat with a convincing 3-1 stroll against Roberto Mancini's side in Amsterdam.
6. Group stage - Man City 1–3 Bayern Munich (2013)
Pep Guardiola's distrust of Joe Hart upon his arrival at Manchester City in 2016 caught many by surprise but the seeds of doubt may have been sown three years earlier.
England's then-number one was at fault for two of Bayern Munich's goals as Pep Guardiola's side cruised to a 3-1 group stage win - City's heaviest-ever Champions League loss at the Etihad Stadium.
Mancini had expressed doubts over Hart but Manuel Pellegrini - the beaten manager in 2013 - stuck with the keeper until Guardiola came in and finally pulled the trigger.
5. Round of 16 - Monaco 3–1 Man City (2017)
City lost this round of 16 tie to Monaco during the first leg in Manchester. Guardiola's side won a bonkers contest 5-3 at the Etihad but the three away goals they shipped ultimately proved decisive.
In the principality, a young Kylian Mbappe and future Liverpool midfielder Fabinho struck twice in a dominant opening half-hour for Monaco. Guardiola admitted after the match that he failed to "convince" his players to "try to attack and score" in the first half.
Leroy Sane found the net after the break but Tiemoue Bakayoko's header sent Monaco through on away goals.
4. Quarter-finals - Man City 1–3 Lyon (2020)
“Different year,” Kevin De Bruyne said, “same stuff.” By the lockdown mini-tournament of 2020, the Belgian was broken by City's repeated failings in the Champions League knockout stage - most of which were self-inflicted.
The galling 3-1 defeat to a Lyon side which finished seventh in Ligue 1 that season is repeatedly held up as the ultimate example of Guardiola's so-called 'overthinking'. The Catalan did deploy an unusual back-three system - which included Eric Garcia and Fernandinho - but Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling missed glorious openings, with the Englishman failing to equalise from all of five yards on a night to forget for those in sky blue.
3. Semi-finals - Real Madrid 3-1 Man City (2022)
The clock had ticked into the 90th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu with City 1-0 up on the night and leading 5-3 on aggregate. Naturally, Real Madrid made it to the final.
Rodrygo struck twice in a matter of seconds to level the semi-final second leg before Karim Benzema completed what was by then inevitable, slotting an extra-time penalty beyond Ederson in Madrid's third unthinkable comeback in as many rounds.
“We were close," Guardiola conceded after the final whistle, repeating in disbelief: "We were close."
2. Quarter-finals - Liverpool 3–0 Man City (2018)
In the absence of the injured Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus led the line. Sane took up his post on the left wing, David Silva drifted between the lines and...wait, what? Ilkay Gundogan lined up on the right flank.
Hours of feverish pre-match plotting went behind the decision to shunt the wonderfully talented but hardly fleet-footed German out wide. But that was quickly forgotten as Liverpool romped to a 3-0 lead after just 31 minutes.
Aymeric Laporte endured an even worse night as an unorthodox left-back up against Mohamed Salah in the midst of the best form of his career. "We beat the best team in the world," Jurgen Klopp grinned after the match. "That is a really good performance."
1. Group stage - Barcelona 4–0 Man City (2016)
Manchester City's controversial owners spent the first few years of their tenure painstakingly sculpting the club in Barcelona's image. With everything on the pitch and the board perfectly tailored, Guardiola was eventually convinced to complete the imitation in 2016.
Yet, three months into his first season at the Etihad, City's tribute act was unceremoniously dismantled by the real deal.
When Guardiola first met Lionel Messi, he promised: "With me, you'll score three or four goals a game." Those words were turned against the Catalan as Barcelona powered to a 4-0 victory, with Messi bagging a hat-trick.
