Man City seek Champions League comfort to ease Premier League pain
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has much work to do if he is to get his side out of their slump.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Manchester City’s malaise leaves the English champions in the unusual position of fretting over qualification for the knockout stage of the Champions League ahead of a trip to Italian giants Juventus on Dec 11.
City have won just once in their past nine games in all competitions, with an injury crisis and a loss of form for some of their biggest stars leading to the worst run of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career.
But despite a 4-1 humbling by Sporting Lisbon and an embarrassing collapse from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord, they are still in a position to qualify from the new league-phase format.
They were 17th in the 36-team table before the round of fixtures on Dec 10, with a top-24 finish enough to secure a place in the play-off round.
However, their chances of direct entry to the last 16 by finishing in the top eight look slim, with another difficult trip to Paris Saint-Germain to come in January before a home game against Club Brugge.
The Champions League is even more significant for City this season with their English Premier League (EPL) title defence in tatters.
After an unprecedented four consecutive English top-flight titles, they are in fourth place, trailing Liverpool by eight points and having played a game more than Arne Slot’s men.
City have often hit top form down the home straight to win the league during Guardiola’s six title successes in the past seven seasons. But this time, the mood is different, with injuries among an ageing squad taking a heavy toll.
“The season starts difficult, it will be difficult all season,” said Guardiola after his side’s latest stumble in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Dec 7. “We have to survive the season, every game, try to take points, to try to win games and go forward.”
Ballon d’Or winner Rodri is the biggest miss and is unlikely to return again this season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in September.
John Stones, Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic and Oscar Bobb are also sidelined for the trip to Turin, while Kevin de Bruyne, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden are among the big names to have missed chunks of the campaign so far.
“If the squad is this short then it is always so difficult for all the players to play (every) three days,” said midfielder Bernardo Silva.
“With a squad of 20 players, if you only have 13 available, it is not good enough.”
City have little time to lick their wounds, with 12 games in 50 days between the Juventus clash and the end of the league phase on Jan 29.
“The doctors and physios are working incredible this season like never before but the reality is we have few players to rotate in this period,” added Guardiola.
“This season will be like this. Don’t feel sorry, accept the challenge and maybe at the end, we will have more satisfaction about the way we behave than in other seasons when we won the titles.”
The hope for City is that they could yet be Champions League contenders if their medical room empties and they find their customary form during the decisive spell of the season.
Just one win from their final three games will almost certainly guarantee qualification.
All three of their opponents to come are below them in the table, with Juventus themselves on a four-game winless run and floundering in sixth place in Serie A.
City need to look back just two years for inspiration.
Defeats by Brentford, Southampton, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the winter months of the 2022-23 campaign had Guardiola questioning whether the hunger had gone from his squad.
A few months later, they lifted the treble, including the club’s only Champions League to date. AFP
