The City youngsters jetted out to Denmark on Monday afternoon ahead of locking horns once again with Copenhagen’s Under-19s on Tuesday lunchtime following a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Academy Stadium last week.
It’s a key clash - which will be screened live on CITY+ and Recast - that could prove vital in terms of determining who finishes top of Group G with both sides currently on seven points from three games with City on top by virtue of a better goal difference.
And coming so soon in the wake of a frustrating result at home to Blackburn at the weekend, Barry-Murphy believes his players will embrace the challenge of seeking to make an immediate positive response.
“Every time this season we have had a setback we have bounced back,” the head coach pointed out.
“Whether that be in games where we have gone behind and come back to win or the fact we bounced back so well after getting beat at Mansfield in the EFL Trophy.
“It is very important for the players that they understand they have to do again as it’s the nature of the job.
“It’s an amazing experience for them playing every three or four days – I do really think it’s great for our players to have to adapt to that schedule mentally as much as anything.
“These Champions League games... there’s so much importance to them and the fact they have to go again three days later in PL2 is great for them.
“The game last Wednesday (at home to Copenhagen) was an intriguing battle from our perspective, and it was a test that we enjoyed.
“Obviously, we feel as if we can go and do well over there, but we are under no illusions how tough it will.
“But it is a challenge we are looking forward to and we can’t wait for the game.”
Reflecting back to the Blackburn loss, which was our first defeat of the PL2 campaign, Barry-Murphy said it served as a reminder of the strength and competitiveness of the league.
And he believes the lesson of coming up against a very experienced Rovers side will be one that serves his young players well looking to the future.
“Blackburn obviously came and did a very good job on us. On the day we just couldn’t find the solutions,” the head coach continued.
“It’s easy to speak about the great challenge for the players when they go from playing Wednesday to Saturday when we win.
“But when we lose we don’t like to reference it as much but I do think it was a test for us on Saturday.
“There has been some stuff spoken about PL2 in the past week or so about how appropriate it is.
“But there is a lot of competitiveness in it and we saw Blackburn have a lot of players who I’ve experiences in my Football League career.
“The level of challenge was good for the players and the fact we couldn’t overcome it was good for the players to understand why.
“The players here and myself included were desperate to win every game. We have fought really hard to get to the top of the table, but the course of the competition means there are going to be a lot of ups and downs.”
Kick-off is at 1pm (UK time) with our broadcast getting underway at 12.55pm.
CITY+ and Recast
A CITY+ subscription costs £2.99GBP per month and includes live streams of selected Women’s and Academy matches throughout the season, as well as full-match replays and exclusive City Studios originals.
Find out how to subscribe, here.
The official Man City Recast channel offers fans flexible, pay-per-view live fixtures and on demand viewing options including the full back catalogue of City Studios Originals, match action from across the years, legend interviews, Best of Series and Man City Esports.
