Quote: Saddened! "But isn't that because having no relevant history and performing poorly in the Champions League itself leads to them having a low ranking, thus always being 3rd seed in a group behind two mega-teams?'"
It does. Altough the problem hasnt just been the two mega-teams (one of which was Villareal last year), its also been the lower seeded teams, Napoli, Ajax, & Dortmond.
I'm not convinced its the quality of the opposition that's the problem. City have also performed poorly in the Europa League against clearly inferior teams. I wonder whether its something to do with the preparation. City rarely play well in mid week games in any competition. Its not a fitness issue, City are always very physically strong, both late in games and at the end of the season. But we always seem to be lethargic in mid week games.