Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today.
City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career.
The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent.
Photo: Reuters
A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League defeats to Sporting and Juventus, between October last year and last month was the nadir of City’s fall from grace.
Guardiola’s men have since turned a corner in the Premier League, winning four of their past five games to climb back into the top four, but the deeper problems at the heart of City’s struggles were exposed last week as Paris Saint-Germain roared back from 2-0 down to inflict a damaging 4-2 defeat on the 2022-2023 champions.
The loss of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri to a season-ending knee injury in September last year has been a devastating blow and compounded by a series of fitness issues at centerback, where Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and John Stones have all missed large chunks of the campaign.
Former captain Kyle Walker shocked the club with a request to leave earlier this month before joining AC Milan on loan.
All of which has forced City to rip up their initial plans and spend big in this month’s transfer window.
More than ￡120 million (US$149 million) has already been splashed on Egypt forward Omar Marmoush, and young defenders Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov, but that trio would not be able to help against Belgian champions Brugge, who have not lost in 21 games in all competitions, as they are not eligible for this stage of the Champions League.
“We would not be doing it if our players were fit, but today I think we have two central defenders, no more than that, and with our holding midfielders we are struggling,” Guardiola said of this month’s splurge.
“After eight years together we have so many players who are more than 30 years old and the other reason is the amount of problems we have with players’ availability. It is an absolutely normal process,” he said.
City sit 25th in the 36-team table and must finish in the top 24 to avoid elimination, but victory would guarantee progress as Brugge sit three points above them with an inferior goal-difference.
Despite their issues, some of Europe’s top clubs will be watching events closely at the Etihad Stadium hoping City do not scrape through only to hit their stride in the knockout phase.
Bookmakers still have them as sixth favorites for the competition behind Liverpool, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Ake and Dias could be back for the playoffs next month, while Marmoush, who scored 20 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt this season, would be free to play in the next round.
Guardiola is confident his side would eventually rekindle their former glories.
“There are seasons where there are a lot of difficulties. It’s [about] how you stand up to it,” he said.
“When Rodri is here, when the defenders are here, when many players are here, we will not be 25th in the Champions League. Sometimes when you experience these situations and then you achieve it is a bigger success,” he added.
After winning just two of their opening seven Champions League games, City have no margin for error left if they are to avoid an embarrassing early exit.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS