For more than an hour Manchester City were in danger of winning a football match. But no, it turned out too good to be true.
Even a three-goal lead with 15 minutes remaining still wasn’t enough for the English champions to get the job done. The astonishing collapse at home to Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday night represented a new low for Pep Guardiola and his flops.
And it is a measure of how far they have sunk that the one positive is that City didn’t lose. That’s right. The five-game losing streak has finally come to an end.
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It has all left Guardiola pointing the finger of blame at his players, while the rest of the footballing world pokes fun at a club people have always struggled to warm to.
City’s recent run of results is one of the most remarkable stories of modern times. The team that won the Treble in 2023 has not won a game since before Halloween.
(Image: YouTube/TNT Sports)
In the space of little over a month, City have crashed out of the League Cup, lost three league games on the spin and dropped five points from six in Europe. And the fire now raging inside Guardiola’s head could continue to burn.
Because this weekend, City go to Liverpool for a game that now promises to define their whole season. Lose to the Premier League leaders and City’s title defence won’t just be in tatters, it will be done.
And where would this leave their confidence and threadbare squad, heading into the Christmas period and second half of Champions League knockout qualification? At this rate, the former European champions might struggle to even reach the final stages.
(Image: Getty Images)
If form doesn’t improve, City could face an unwanted two extra play-off games in February. Before then, they must travel to Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, before hosting Club Brugge at the end of January.
But it will be the outcome of events at Anfield on Sunday which promise to set the tone for the rest of City’s campaign. It has been a place which has given Guardiola fits down the years.
Since taking charge of City in 2016, he has never won at Anfield when fans have been in attendance. He might be one of the best bosses of all time, but Guardiola has regularly left the red half of Merseyside feeling humiliated and humbled.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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But on the flip side, if City could somehow manage a rare win it would breathe new life into their season. It feels like the stakes have never been higher.
Arne Slot’s men can drive one through the heart of their fiercest rivals, while City can come back from the dead. But whatever the outcome, the bigger picture for City looks troubling.
Guardiola might have just signed a new deal, but before he reaches the end of it City will have 16 players coming to the end of their contracts. And some of them might choose to leave.
Ageing stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have achieved all there is to at the Etihad. How can Guardiola maintain the hunger and desire of certain individuals constantly being tempted by the massive riches on offer in Saudi Arabia?
As the weeks tick on, the case for City’s defence is looking less and less convincing.