Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini insists that, in order to progress, the club will need to find a player like Lionel Messi who can make the difference for the former Premier League champions.
Messi's virtuoso two-goal performance in Barcelona's midweek success has again seen him hailed as the greatest player in the world, a title he has frequently laid claim to over the past decade.
And Pellegrini feels City need a star player who can have a similar effect on his team as Messi does at the Nou Camp, but he believes there is much more to Barca than the Argentinian.
He said: "First we need to find another Messi! He makes the difference, without doubt, like (Cristiano) Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
"But last year Barcelona didn't win any titles. Messi is an important player but it's not just Messi. You need a lot of things around him to be an important team.
"I said when we played against Barcelona we were very unlucky, that both years we had to play against the best team in the world, with Messi included.
"I think what Barcelona did against Bayern is no surprise for anyone, and not to me. Now they are demonstrating that I was not so wrong in what I said."
Pellegrini hopes that City's star striker Sergio Aguero can be that man. Aguero has again been outstanding at times this season, scoring 28 goals for City, but injuries have again prevented him realising his full potential.
"It's important for Kun to improve every year, to play all the games," Pellegrini said. "Maybe next year we'll see another Kun because he is working differently, he is growing every year.
"I hope he will be as important here as those players are at their teams."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.