Manchester City had a forgettable Champions League outing on Tuesday as Feyenoord pulled off a remarkable comeback to claim a 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
It was a seemingly presentable opportunity for the reigning Premier League champions to finally find some respite following a humiliating 4-0 league defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Spurs’ rampant display in Manchester inflicted Pep Guardiola’s heaviest home defeat during his trophy-laden managerial career and condemned the Cityzens to a fifth consecutive loss in all competitions.
Although they arrested their dreadful run in midweek European action, Man City made an unwanted piece of history.
Despite being 3-0 up in the 75th minute, Guardiola failed to take three points after establishing a three-goal cushion for the first time in his 942-game coaching career.
Feyenoord’s out-of-this-world fightback made Man City the first team in Champions League history to boast a 3-0 lead with a quarter of an hour left and still fail to end in the win column.
Guardiola acknowledged post-match via CNN that fans are ‘right to express what they feel’ as the Etihad crowd booed the team off the pitch.
A gut-wrenching home result against the Dutch side was hardly an ideal warm-up for the Cityzens’ mouth-watering Premier League showdown against Liverpool on Sunday.
Epic Downfall
Spurs’ standout triumph at the Etihad made Man City the first defending champions to lose five games on the trot since Chelsea in March 1956.
Tottenham’s onslaught marked only the second instance in Guardiola’s illustrious career to have seen the Spaniard lose by a four-goal margin while contributing to City’s heaviest home league defeat since 2003.
It wasn’t the best way to celebrate his contract extension in Manchester, but there’s no time to dwell on the past.
Man City must stem the bleeding to prevent losing crucial ground in the title race.
Their notorious fall from grace has enabled Liverpool to extend their lead at the table’s summit to eight points, throwing City’s hopes of clinching a fifth successive league title into doubt.
On the verge of losing four straight Premier League matches for the first time since August 2008, Guardiola’s charges head to Anfield to face the high-flying Reds.
The writing is on the wall, with the Cityzens ominously conceding at least two goals across their last six games in all competitions.
No Rodri, No Party
Despite all the controversy surrounding Rodri’s win in the Ballon d’Or race, one thing is undeniable – Man City cannot thrive without their midfield maestro.
Guardiola lost his anchor midfielder to a potentially season-ending knee injury in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal in mid-September.
Rodri’s absence has heavily affected the Cityzens, disrupting their midfield stability and exposing vulnerabilities in their defensive transitions.
Since losing the 28-year-old, the perennial Premier League champions have only won three of their seven league matches (D1, L3), registering just one clean sheet in that sequence.
It’s no secret that Guardiola’s team relies heavily on the Spanish superstar, whose presence dictates the tempo and balance of Man City’s gameplay.
To put this thesis in perspective, since February 2023, they’ve played 78 games with Rodri on the field, suffering just one defeat – an equivalent to a 1.28 loss percentage.
City’s success rate drops significantly without the former Atletico Madrid ace.
During the aforementioned timeframe, the Cityzens have lost 32.1% of their fixtures when Rodri wasn’t on the pitch, losing nine out of 28 in his absence.
Now or Never
Anything less than a victory at Anfield could effectively end Man City’s hopes of pipping Liverpool to the title.
However, they’ll have to cope without Rodri while Kevin De Bruyne endures one of the most challenging spells of his career.
De Bruyne’s decline after several long-term injuries in the past few years has been another substantial factor in City’s downturn.
The Belgian almost single-handedly shouldered the creative burden at the Etihad during Guardiola’s most prolific period.
If Man City are to knock Liverpool off their perch and launch a much-needed winning streak, they’ll need their talismanic playmaker to rediscover his vintage form.
