Man City's new-look youth team are surprising coaches with useful Champions League trait

Manchester City haven't had much luck in the UEFA Youth League in recent seasons, but their head coach has spotted a new hunger in the academy that could bode well this year.

City haven't passed the group stage since 2018, although one of those years saw the competition cancelled, and the Blues' best crop of academy talents have passed through the under-19s and under-23s without making a mark on the biggest club tournament in Europe.

This season though, even without the likes of Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Liam Delap or Tommy Doyle, the youngsters at City are looking to use the Youth League as a competition to show they are as good as the players who have gone before them.

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City weren't at their best on Wednesday against a well-organised FC Copenhagen side, but showed a spirit and desire that impressed head coach Brian Barry-Murphy to come from behind and salvage something in the last minute for the second game running. After breezing past Sevilla in Spain, City scored in the 90th and 92nd minutes against Borussia Dortmund to win 3-2 and go top of the group, level with Copenhagen on six points.

This week, Copenhagen looked like edging a tight game 1-0, but Joel Ndala fired home in the 92nd minute to earn a deserved point after he scored the late winner vs Dortmund in the previous game. And Barry-Murphy says this year's squad are showing the kind of desire and attitude that gives him a belief that they can always come back in games, something that will be key if they are to be successful in Europe this season.

He told MEN Sport: "When we were losing in the in the game, it would have been easy to get really anxious