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Manchester City to Round Off Champions League Group with Comfortable Win

Manchester City face Hoffenheim in their final Champions League group game on Wednesday night. City have already qualified for the next round, though they do need to get something from this game if they want to guarantee top spot. Lyon are three points behind City, but they hold the advantage when it comes to the tie breaks, so if Lyon win and City lose, Lyon would go through as group winners and Manchester City would finish second.

Hoffenheim come into their last game as the bottom club in the group, but they have the opportunity to move up into third with a win here. That would give them a place in the Europa League knockout round, so they do have something to play for. Anything other than a win and Hoffenheim will finish bottom, and a win would still not guarantee them progression to the Europa League, they have to hope that Shakhtar Donetsk fail in their game against Lyon.

While Hoffenheim have drawn three of their five games in the group so far, they have not won one and it is good to see them frustrating and holding on for points, but without wins they are never going to succeed and get through to the Champions League knockout round. It is too late for them to do anything about their fate this season other than to get in the Europa League, but at some point they have to learn how to win in Europe for the future.

With three wins, one draw and one defeat, it hasn’t been perfect from Manchester City so far in this competition. They were expected to dominate this group, and talk of them winning all six games was mentioned by many. If they do deserve credit here then it is for bouncing back well after losing their first game at home to Lyon. The French side were also the team to take a point off them, so they must be thrilled with four points off one of the favourites to win the overall title.

Is It Time for Manchester City to Compete for European Trophies?

Since money was pumped into Manchester City many moons ago, they have worked their way up to be a dominant force in the Premier League. They won the league title comfortably last season, and they look to be heading for a two way battle with Liverpool to win the title again this season. They are in a great position domestically, and they look set to challenge for years to come with the squad they have right now, but what about in Europe? Should they be challenging for European titles now?

The answer for me, is a clear yes. City have built an impressive squad, they have the right combination of skill and quality alongside depth to ensure they can always put out a strong eleven, and a strong substitute bench to back them up when needed.

However, despite that they have never really challenged like they should have in Europe. It is difficult to say that a team that has done as much as City have in recent years have disappointed, but solely based on their European success, you have to see this as a disappointment for them. They have not progressed when they should have done, and even though they have an abundance of European experience, they struggle to get the job done when they go up against the best on the continent.

Perhaps this is a psychological thing for them, or maybe they struggle to cope with the strain of competing in both the Champions League and Premier League, but for whatever reason they are so far showing nothing to suggest that European success is round the corner. This City team is more than good enough to get to at least the semi finals of the Champions League, and that should be the minimum they expect this season. When you compare them on paper to the other big guns around Europe, they are good enough to compete and make the semi finals, but it is just a case of them going through with that and actually making it happen.

While the Premier League is certainly the number one target for the players and coaching staff at Manchester City, their lack of European success will eventually catch up with them, and fans will get on their backs about it. This team has the potential to be far better than just a Premier League winner, they have the ability to also win the Champions League. Whether it is a mental problem or a fitness issue, I don’t know, but there is something preventing them from going all the way to the top in Europe right now. This team should be hitting the semi finals at least on a regular basis, and they simply aren’t doing that right now.

Manchester City vs Hoffenheim Betting Tips

While Manchester City have already qualified for the next round of the Champions League, they do need something from this game to guarantee their qualification to the next round as group winners. Just a point will do them, but I think they will go all out to try and win this game, and that is even more likely with them losing in the Premier League on Saturday against Chelsea. They won’t want to lose two games in a row, and will come here looking to prevent that from happening.

Hoffenheim are yet to win in the Champions League this season, and if they want success in the future in any European competition then they are going to have to learn how to win in Europe. This isn’t easy, but they are a capable team and while this season hasn’t gone too well for them, should they win here and get into the Europa League, that will give them more experience playing on the continent.

I don’t think they will get the win though, I think that this game is set up for a Manchster City win. They will want to perform well here to get over the line and with the loss to Chelsea still fresh in their minds, they have another reason to bounce back to winning ways here and please their fans. City should be aiming to go close to winning this competition this year, and if they want to do that then they should be beating Hoffenheim comfortably.

I am backing City to win this game on the -1 handicap line, they have the attacking quality to score goals here, and I think that will result in a comfortable night for them at The Etihad on Wednesday.

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Manchester City -1 to beat Hoffenheim

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