Will Man City profit from swift Champions League exit?

Manchester City's title chances may have received a lift

As Manchester City bomb out of all European competition, Christian Crowther examines the theory that it will benefit their Premier League title bid...

On another dire European night, Roberto Mancini's men succumbed 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund and, in doing so, became the first English team to complete the group stage of the Champions League without recording a single win.

As a consequence, they finished dead last in Group D and will no longer play any European football this season after missing out on the Europa League berth to Ajax.

However, out of the ashes of successive botched Champions League campaigns, some positivity may yet arise. 

Many are arguing that by missing out on the Europa League, City have actually done themselves a favour, as without the distraction of Europe, they can fully focus on retention of their Premier League crown.

But how does the evidence stack up?

Two other English sides have finished rock bottom of their Champions League group: Blackburn in 1995/96 and Manchester United a decade later.

Blackburn ended up finishing 21 points off the pace in seventh, though they did improve steadily after a torrid start. Starker was the way they struggled to balance the two competitions early in the season, the title holder's league form clearly suffering while playing in Europe.

In United's case however, their improvement was far more noticeable after exiting Europe. Despite eventually missing out to Chelsea's second successive 90-point-plus haul, they did string an imperious nine-game winning run together in the second half of that season, coming far closer than in 2004/05, when they reached the Champions League semi-finals.

Another good example of a marked improvement in domestic form can be found in Manchester City's latest continental conquerors Borussia Dortmund. The now double German champions bottomed out of last year's competition before storming to their second Bundesliga title in a row. 

At the time Dortmund exited the Champions League, Bayern Munich were top but the eventual champs pieced together 16 victories from their last 18 games to end up eight points clear.

In contrast, Bayern in second place - who reached the final of the Champions League - couldn't match such a devastating sequence.

City would obviously still love to be in the Champions League, but by dodging the Europa League, their currently 2.47/5-rated title chances look set to improve. 

Those odds are sure to come in dramatically if City win the Manchester derby this weekend. They can be backed at 2.3211/8.