Manchester City have been the dominant side in English football for the past three seasons but the secret behind conquering Europe continues to frustrate and elude them.
For all the millions they have spent on players since the arrival of owner Sheikh Mansour in 2008, and despite two Premier League titles to their name, City have continually found success in Europe beyond them.
A slow start has left them facing a crucial match at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday, with victory imperative if they are not to go out at the group stage of the Champions League for the third time in four seasons.
Why City, for all their wealth and an abundance of talent, continue to struggle when it comes to the Champions League is a topic that has most pundits scratching their heads.
With forward David Silva missing from Wednesday's match through injury, City fans will be wary of taking anything for granted, even if Moscow fans will not be allowed to travel, banned after racist abuse.
But captain Vincent Kompany is not willing to believe there is any European hoodoo against his side, who made the last 16 in 2013-14.
"There's no mental block," the Belgium defender said. "There's just occasionally a number of performances that need to be better, that's all it is.
"But I'm not going to follow the trend and go against my team. I'm 100 per cent convinced we'll overturn it.
"People forget we had a strong group stage last year, it's not every season the same. But this year we've made it more difficult than it has to be."
That difficulty stems in part from their 2-2 draw in a virtually empty Moscow stadium, in a match they had dominated and led 2-0 before conceding two late goals.
Without a win in their three matches, know they need three points to restore hope and confidence in the group and striker Sergio Aguero has been trying to emphasise the positives.
"Rather than look for excuses for what happened, I think we'd rather focus on what's coming up," Aguero said. "It's not the time for regrets. Now, more than ever, it comes down to our own efforts.
"We can't drop any more points and we have to go for the win in every one of the remaining matches. We will be giving everything we have, that's for certain."
A weekend win over neighbours and rivals Manchester United was a timely boost for City and though manager Manuel Pellegrini has been criticised at times for maintaining his attacking style, the Chilean is sticking to his guns.
"We have had one or two bad results but I am not going to change the philosophy of what I am trying to do," he said.
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