page_title: Manchester City F.C. in international football competitions
section_title: Return to Europe in the 2000s; little progress in the early 2010s
hierarchical_section_title: Manchester City F.C. in international football competitions / History / Return to Europe in the 2000s; little progress in the early 2010s
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Szene aus dem Champions-League-Spiel Manchester City gegen Bayern München am 7. Dezember 2011.
context_page_description: Manchester City Football Club, an English professional association football club, has gained entry to Union of European Football Associations competitions on several occasions. They have represented England in the European Cup on nine occasions, the UEFA Cup on seven separate occasions, and the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup twice. Manchester City are one of twelve English football clubs to have won a European title, in City's case the 1969–70 Cup Winners Cup.
  The club's first entry into European competition occurred in 1968, as a result of winning the 1967–68 Football League Championship. However, the participation was short-lived, as the club suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Fenerbahçe in the first round. Entry into the Cup Winners' Cup the following season was more successful; Manchester City won the competition, defeating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 at the Prater Stadium in Vienna. The club reached the semi-final of the same competition the following year, and continued to play European football regularly during the 1970s. The club then endured a period of decline, and did not play in Europe again until 2003, a gap of 24 years.
context_section_description: Manchester City's fortunes declined during the 1980s and 1990s. For a single season, 1998–99, the club fell as far as English football's third tier. The club did not qualify for European competition in this period. In ordinary circumstances, the club's fifth-placed finish in 1991 and 1992 would have granted a UEFA Cup place. However, English clubs had recently returned from a ban issued after the Heysel Stadium disaster. As the UEFA coefficient that determines the number of places per country is based upon performances in European competition over the previous five years, England had a reduced allocation until 1995.
  By the 2002–03 season, Manchester City were back in the Premier League. An unusual route into European competition for the 2003–04 season was provided by the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking, which provided extra UEFA Cup qualifying round places for the leagues with the best records for discipline and positive play. This marked Manchester City's first European participation for 24 years. In the qualifying round City played Welsh club Total Network Solutions. The first leg was the first-ever competitive match at Manchester City's new ground, the City of Manchester Stadium. Trevor Sinclair became the first ever goalscorer at the stadium in a 5–0 win. In the hope of attracting a large crowd, TNS switched the second leg to Millennium Stadium, the national stadium of Wales. With the tie effectively won, City made 10 changes to their team. The match finished 2–0 to City. Against Sporting Lokeren in the first round proper, City won the home leg 3–2, and the away leg 1–0. A tie against Groclin Dyskobolia followed. Both legs were drawn, and just as in 1976, City were eliminated on away goals after a 0–0 draw in Poland.
  In 2008, Manchester City once again qualified for the UEFA Cup through the Fair Play rankings. As City had to play the qualifying rounds, it meant a very early start to the season, in mid-July. Their first match was a trip to the remote Faroe Islands to play EB/Streymur. As Streymur's ground had a capacity of only 1,000, the match was moved to Tórsvøllur, the Faroese national stadium. Two early goals gave City a 2–0 win. The home leg was unusual in that it was played outside Manchester. The pitch at the City of Manchester Stadium had been relaid following a Bon Jovi concert, and was not ready in time. Instead, the match was played at Barnsley's Oakwell ground. Another 2–0 win resulted in a 4–0 aggregate scoreline. In the second qualifying round City played FC Midtjylland. The first leg ended in a 1–0 defeat, only City's second ever home defeat in European competition. In the second leg City looked to be heading out of the competition until an 89th minute cross was diverted into his own net by Midtjylland's Danny Califf. The tie then went to extra time, and City progressed on penalties. In the first round proper Cypriots AC Omonia took the lead, but City overcame the deficit and won 2–1, and also won the second leg by the same scoreline.
  A five team group stage then followed, in which each team played the others once. Manchester City were drawn with Twente, Schalke 04, Racing de Santander and Paris Saint-Germain. City topped the group, after wins against Twente and Schalke, a draw with Paris Saint-Germain and a defeat in a dead rubber in Santander. The knockout stages then resumed, with a visit to F.C. Copenhagen in freezing conditions. City took the lead twice but could only draw 2–2. The home leg was more comfortable, and ended in a 2–1 victory. Another Danish club, Aalborg, awaited in the next round. Both matches finished 2–0 to the home side, and the tie was decided by a penalty shootout, which Manchester City won. City then faced Hamburger SV, in their first European quarter-final since 1979. The away leg was played first, and started exceptionally well for Manchester City, as Stephen Ireland scored after just 35 seconds. However, Hamburg soon equalised, and won the match 3–1. A difficult task in the home leg soon became even harder, when Hamburg scored an away goal early in the match. City scored twi
caption: Manchester City vs Bayern Munich, 7 December 2011.
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