City fan keeping the faith

'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender'.

Winston Churchill gave this most famous of speeches before England had a previous almighty battle with the Germans.

That was on the fourth of June 1940 and on the 7th December 2011 Roberto Mancini will have to deliver a similarly rousing call to arms as Manchester City face Bayern Munich in a game which will partly determine which European competition they will partake in next year.

On a positive note, we are also looking for the Italians to surrender to the Spanish as part of the deal, but City can only control what happens in Manchester and that is the battle to focus on. Although Manchester City haven't had the best of times in the inaugural voyage into the Champions League they do still boast an unbeaten home record in European matches. Although Bayern are not exactly slouches when it comes to away fixtures, with six wins from eight in Champions League play. 

The last time City faced German competition was back in 2009 when City were eliminated by Hamburg over the two legs of the UEFA Cup. Interestingly enough, earlier on in the season, City faced and beat Schalke 2-0. Although the game was on German soil it does link to Wednesday’s game as Manuel Neuer and Rafinha were in that side that night and may well face City now they are at Bayern. 

Back in our European Cup Winners triumph in 1970 we faced our first German opposition, again Schalke and again a positive result saw us progress. However, unlike those matches the destiny of City doesn't rest firmly in Mancunian hands and one wary eye will constantly be looking across the water to Villarreal. 

But lets not forget that Bayern will still not be looking to lose on the night and in fact their last few visits to these shores resulted in an English side going out. Their stats in England in the fourteen games played they have only lost 5. City will have to make it 6 if their Champions League adventure is to continue.

PA Cityboy

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