Three minutes and thirty-two seconds into the second leg of Manchester City’s crucial Champions League knockout tie with Real Madrid, captain Ruben Dias misjudged a headed clearance allowing Kylian Mbappe to be through on the goal. A simple lob over a the badly positioned Ederson put Madrid 1-0 up before it felt like the game had even begun.
Before City had registered a shot on the night, Real went 2-0 up after more miscommunications in defence allowed the quick-footed Frenchman to score again, before he would go on to score a third and knock City out for their earliest Champions League exit since the 2012/13 season.
The kicker? Eighty-five minutes into the first leg City were leading the tie.
But mistakes from Ederson, Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic, and the punishment’s dished out by Real Madrid in response meant the defending champions left Manchester with a 3-2 lead in the fixture. City fans once again had to watch as the same few players that had been reliable over the past few years as their team won every trophy possible play as if it was their first time together.
Pep Guardiola’s side have repeatedly shot themselves in the foot and allowed opponents to get ahead early, before even getting the chance to get into the game themselves. Spurs were 2-0 up against them within twenty minutes at the Etihad, Manuel Akanji gifted Arsenal the ball allowing them to score after ninety seconds in the Blues’ embarrassing 5-1 loss, and Noni Madueke put Chelsea 1-0 up inside three minutes back in January.
But even when Manchester City have raced out of the gates, there’s been no guarantee of staying ahead. The 2-1 loss to Brighton, the 2-2 draw at Brentford, the 3-3 draw with Feyenoord and the 4-2 loss to PSG are simply a few examples of games where the blues have dropped points from winning positions, and there are many more.
When addressing City’s faults this season there is an elephant in the room of course. The long-term injury to holding midfielder and current Ballon d’Or holder Rodri has left a massive hole in the midfield.
But an injury to one player shouldn’t be enough to disrupt a whole team at any club, let alone Manchester City
But an injury to one player shouldn’t be enough to disrupt a whole team at any club, let alone Manchester City. What it has done however is expose the flaws in Manchester City’s recruiting over the past few years. Last summer City seemingly had no intention of signing a midfielder until the offer arose to re-sign former club captain Ilkay Gundogan from Barcelona. Yes, the German was captain that guided the Blues to the Treble back in 2022/23, but at 33 years old and off the back of a year in the much slower Spanish league, it was unrealistic to expect he was going to be able to reach his treble-winning form again.
It’s an even more curious signing when put into the context of the previous summer’s signings in midfield. Mateo Kovacic had proved to be okay at best as a utility player in the middle of the park, and £50m Matheus Nunes (who himself had been a second choice signing after City failed to obtain West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta) never quite got settled in.
In Rodri’s absence, Gundogan and Kovacic have played dismal together, both able to progress the ball well, but completely unable to regain it when possession is lost.
It’s also not Rodri’s fault that the front three haven’t fired in the ways they should do either. New signing Savinho taking until the new year to record his first goal for the club wasn’t ideal. The Brazillian looks like he may become a special player but giving him Riyad Mahrez’s old shirt number hasn’t turned him into him immediately.
Jeremy Doku’s end-project still requires substantial developments to match his abilities on the ball, and Julian Alvarez was also never replaced after his sale to Atletico Madrid, leaving Erling Haaland needing to do all of the goal scoring up top.
Now out of the Champions League, they must attempt to seize the form that they’ve utilised in run ins in the past to win them titles, just to guarantee top 4.
Also ravaged by injuries; City have more than likely written off the possibility of retaining their Premier League title. Now out of the Champions League, they must attempt to seize the form that they’ve utilised in run ins in the past to win them titles, just to guarantee top 4. But the heroics of Vincent Kompany’s long range goal in the crucial game against Leicester back in 2019, or the comeback against Aston Villa on the final day of the season in 2022 seem a far cry from City’s current squad and situation.
Its perhaps important to note this is not the first blip of Pep Guardiola’s tenure in Manchester. City finished second in the 2019/20 season by a margin of 18 points to champions Liverpool. It was a tumultuous time, as City lost both Manchester derbies, lost to Wolves home and away, and were picked apart at Anfield in a 3-1 loss to Jurgen Klopp’s eventual title winners.
The outgoing Vincent Kompany and Leroy Sane weren’t sufficiently replaced, and players that had become such a key part of the club’s modern era like David Silva and Sergio Aguero had begun to lose the battles to their own bodies. Raheem Sterling’s and Fernandinho’s years at the top level had started to be evident in their legs, and new signings like Rodri and Joao Cancelo struggled, as many do, to make an impression in the first year.
It allowed Guardiola the first chance to really imprint his identity on the city side for the first time and create an almost completely Pep-built team. If the continuation of the Mancini/Pellegrini eras manifested themselves in Pep’s first team at City, then the failures of the 19/20 season helped shape his second side.
The signings over the following years of players like Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish and finally, Erling Haaland turned the skeleton of a team that Guardiola inherited into the treble claiming, four-in-a-row premier league winning team that dominated English football.
Now, with two more years on his contract and a team in disarray Guardiola has the chance to build the third and final team of his tenure at the Etihad. This January’s signings are the first step towards it. Nico Gonzalez looks to play similar to Rodri in the centre of the pitch, and more crucially has wasted no time in becoming a leader on the pitch, despite his tough time against Madrid at the Bernabeu. Abdudokir Khusanov has recovered from his horror first five minutes on debut against Chelsea to already demonstrate signs of turning into a monster in defence, in spite of his baby-faced appearance. Big money signing Omar Marmoush is thriving at his new club too, with his first goals coming in the form of a hattrick against Newcastle.
What City need to do now, for the first time in their history, is abandon nostalgia, however recent. Where back in 2019, players simply left naturally because of age, City now need to look at players on ability in the here and now, regardless of age and roles played in title winning teams.
Greats like John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne clearly sold the physical health to achieve footballing greatness. Jack Grealish was one of the most important players in bringing the first champions league to the club, but didn’t quite kick on in the seasons after. Manuel Akanji’s versatility was crucial in busy seasons but now the Swiss international less than reliable at centre back. The aforementioned Gundogan-Kovacic pivot simply doesn’t have the legs to compete at high levels.
Perhaps its wishful thinking to think the solution to City’s problems are simple. The cruel irony in Mbappe’s opening goal on Wednesday night was that in setup and execution was alarmingly similar to Omar Marmoush’s opening goal in his hattrick against Newcastle, the goal that had many city fans thinking the rut was over and filled them with excitement for going to Madrid with nothing to lose.
Upon taking the Manchester United job, Erik ten Hag looked towards competing with Manchester City and Liverpool by saying eras ‘can come to an end.’ While ten Hag didn’t last long enough in the job to see the Manchester City of today, there’s an argument that this is the beginning of what the Dutchman had illuded to.
But, if there’s anything that people should be more than aware of now as a result of Manchester City’s triumphs across all competitions and all countries, it’s that they shouldn’t ever be written off.
