Real Madrid once again inflicted pain on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, deepening a difficult season for the English champions and nudging them closer to a premature exit from the Champions League.
City took the lead twice at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland finally turning up against the Spanish heavyweights, scoring his first goals in five encounters with Madrid.
However, the Norwegian’s goals merely highlight the significant issues plaguing City this season.
Madrid looked profligate for the majority of the match, but a late surge meant they left with smiles rather than frustration over their finishing.
Brahim Diaz found the net against his former club mere moments after coming off the bench, before Jude Bellingham, on his return to English soil, tapped in the winner during stoppage time after yet another defensive blunder from City.
City have now conceded eight goals in the closing 15 minutes of their last five Champions League fixtures.
Late goals have also plagued Guardiola in the Premier League, where City languish a staggering 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
Although City managed to sneak into the play-off round on the final day of the group stage, they did so despite winning only three of their eight Champions League matches this season.
The cost of finishing 22nd in the 36-team table was a daunting draw against the 15-time European champions.
The two clubs are meeting for the fourth consecutive season in the Champions League.
Madrid has triumphed in two of the previous three encounters, yet each time their visit to the Etihad has been a sobering experience.
In 2022 and 2023, Carlo Ancelotti’s side conceded four goals, while last year they narrowly escaped with a 1-1 draw before advancing via penalties.
This time, however, the narrative shifted long before the last-minute drama unfolded.
“It was a strange one. We played some of our best football this season and still found ourselves behind,” Bellingham remarked.
Aging City
Madrid could have scored thrice within the first quarter of an hour through Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, and Ferland Mendy.
A number of chances came and went before Mbappe equalised with a fortunate mishit shot.
Haaland regained the lead for City from the penalty spot with just ten minutes remaining.
Yet, even at that point, the frailty of Guardiola’s squad—compared to the dominant force of previous seasons—was evident.
“The reality is we aren’t stable enough. This has happened many times,” Guardiola admitted.
“In the end, we handed it to them ourselves, and at this level that’s incredibly difficult. It’s not the first time we’ve let it slip.”
City suffered their first home European defeat since 2018, adding to what has been the toughest season of Guardiola’s illustrious managerial career thus far.
He reiterated his belief that he has “not been good enough” to elicit a response from an ageing squad that has dramatically declined since winning four consecutive Premier League titles.
City spent over £170 million in the January transfer window in a bid to turn their fortunes around.
Yet, none of Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, or Abdukodir Khusanov were in the starting lineup, while Vitor Reis was omitted from the European squad for the knockout stages.
Instead, Guardiola relied on the players who have delivered for him in the past.
In a familiar pattern this season, they ran out of steam in the dying moments as Madrid took a significant stride towards extinguishing City’s Champions League ambitions for the third time in four years.
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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