Manchester City will attempt to achieve a dramatic Uefa Champions League fightback against Barcelona tomorrow night with a team containing as many as nine of the players who took the club's first faltering steps in the competition in September 2011.
Despite failing to progress beyond the last 16 of the competition in three previous attempts - two under Roberto Mancini and one with Manuel Pellegrini - the City team who will play in the Nou Camp will highlight the remarkable lack of evolution at the Etihad Stadium since Mancini's side were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli in Manchester at the start of the 2011-12 season.
While City's domestic and European rivals have all undergone major transformations, with Arsenal changing as many as 10 players from their first Champions League lineup of 2011-2012, the reward for failure at the Etihad has been repeated shots at redemption for the club's underperforming players - despite a transfer outlay of more than £300-million in that time.
Since the start of the 2011-12 season, City have spent £327-million on new players, but when Pellegrini's team face Barcelona, attempting to overturn a 2-1 deficit, the only men missing from the team who faced Napoli nearly four years ago will be Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry, who have since left for West Bromwich Albion and Everton respectively.
Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Touré, Samir Nasri, David Silva, Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko remain in the first team, with Martin Demichelis and Fernandinho likely to fill the gaps left by Lescott and Barry.
City have attempted to change the face of their squad, but their recruitment strategy, which had been such a success during the first three years of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan's ownership, has been dismal of late .
Aside from Fernandinho, a £30-million signing from Shakhtar Donetsk, and the bargain £3.5-million acquisition of Demichelis from Atlético Madrid, City have lavished money on players who have failed to deliver.
The likes of Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair and Matija Nastasic, signed to reduce the average age of what is now the oldest squad in the Barclays Premier League, have all moved on since arriving in August 2012, while Eliaquim Mangala, the £42-million centre half, has proven too erratic to be considered a regular starter by Pellegrini.
Others such as Bacary Sagna, Fernando, Jesus Navas and goalkeeper Willy Caballero have done little to make City competitive in Europe.
Despite the cycle of failure on the European stage, Pellegrini insists that his squad - whose average age is just above 29 - is perfectly primed to succeed.
"For me the best performance of the players is between 25 and 30 years," he said.
But the ability of City's European rivals to renew their squads suggests that the Premier League champions have fallen asleep at the wheel, while others have been alert.
Champs League Fixtures
Tonight
Borussia Dortmund vs Juventus (9.45pm)
Barcelona vs Man City (9.45pm)
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