Manchester City topple the mighty Barcelona - now can they do it for real?
For any club - even the richest in the world - progress into the top four of the Barclays Premier League has to come in small steps. Manchester City left Barcelona on Thursday afternoon feeling that perhaps they had taken one.
Winning a friendly against an under-strength Barcelona team may not figure that highly on Mark Hughesâs personal CV but, nevertheless, the City manager exited the Nou Camp content that his players had just experienced something that they now must aspire to.
A visitor to the team hotel on Wednesday afternoon told later how some of Hughesâs younger players had seemed a little nervous - intimidated even - ahead of the game. Following a 1-0 win secured by a Martin Petrov goal, perhaps they no longer will be.
Goalkeeper Shay Given - who played Champions League football with Newcastle - said: 'For some of our players, coming here and seeing this atmosphere is something they will remember for ever. And this is what we have to aim at. We are a long way off this level at the moment. We know that.
âIt could take several years to get to the required level but this is where we want to be.â
Hughesâs team were without Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Wayne Bridge on Wednesday, thus opening the door to young players such as Nedum Onuoha and Latvian Vladimir Weiss. The latter - a youth academy product - will have learned more at the Nou Camp than he had for the previous two years.
Even on the night of a friendly, Barcelonaâs home stadium is a remarkable theatre. It was full on Wednesday as each of Pep Guardiolaâs first-team squad was announced by name as they entered the arena.
City even had to move their warm-up cones to let the whole self-indulgent spectacle take place.
There is a stark contrast between the two clubs, of course. City are owned by a very wealthy Arab family - many of whom were present on Wednesday night - while Barcelona is run as a collective, essentially under the stewardship of their own supporters.
Nevertheless, the goal for Hughes and Guardiola is a common one. Both will stand or fall on the back of their results and Hughes was given backing by an unexpected source.
[B]Barcelonaâs stellar 2009 signing, the Swedish centre forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic told Sportsmail: 'Manchester City are not at this level yet, but they can be.
'They have bought some very good players and they clearly have a very big and very ambitious project going on.
âIf they carry on like this then I think they will be one of the top five clubs in Europe in two or three years.â [/B]
Even Cityâs most optimistic follower may balk at that particular prediction but it is, nevertheless, clear that the Premier League clubâs summer recruitment programme has had one of its desired effects. People around Europe have noticed.
Barcelona know all about Cityâs ambition of course. The European champions almost sold Samuel Etoâo to them in July and remain aware of how dearly Hughes covets their sensational central midfield player, Yaya Toure.
Happily, though, City have retained their heart and soul too. A group of young cancer patients from South Manchesterâs Christie Hospital were in the Nou Camp courtesy of their club on Wednesday, while another youngster will meet his hero Carlos Tevez before the home match against Wolverhampton tomorrow after being caught up in some crowd skirmishes following a recent friendly against Celtic at Eastlands.
It is goodwill like this that will help City stand out from the crowd. They have traditionally done these things very well.
The football, on the other hand, has always been more patchy but, while they were winning in Spain, neighbours Manchester United were losing at Burnley.
Is the world order changing at last?
âItâs early days,â mused Hughes with a smile.
âI will tell you next May.â