Manchester City’s winless streak grew to six games on Tuesday and they surprisingly squandered a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League. In the process, City became the first team in UCL history to fail to win a match after leading by three goals in the 75th minute, according to Opta.
Although they didn’t look exactly like before in the 75th minute, City went to work to boast a 3-0 lead. The scoreboard reflected his dominance, taking 14 shots and seven on goal, limiting Feyenoord to two shots on target at that time. Erling Haaland was set to be the story of the game with his brace, making him the fastest player to reach 50 goals in Champions League history.
However, Anis Hadj-Moussa’s goal in the 76th minute was much more than a consolation for Feyenoord. It was both the spark that allowed the visitors to score twice more in the space of 13 minutes, courtesy of Santiago Giménez and David Hancko, and a reminder of just how much things have gone off the rails for City.
One can easily trace City’s downward spiral back to September, when Ballon d’Or winner Rodri tore his ACL. It was long clear that the midfielder was the glue holding Pep Guardiola’s tactical strategy together, and it was also obvious that the team would miss him as they chase a fifth consecutive Premier League title and their first Champions League title since 2023. Two months However, since his injury and six games into the longest winless streak of Guardiola’s career, it is also evident that his problems are not entirely related to Rodri’s absence.
City have become somewhat wasteful in front of goal this season, going in the wrong direction in a number of ways this season. While their expected goals average remains stable at 2.2 per game, they averaged more goals (2.6) last season than this time (2.0) despite taking fewer shots per game (18.7 to 20 ,2). Their lower offensive production has made the margins of their victory narrower, diminishing the scoring tendencies that have made them such a dominant team over the last decade and change.
Guardiola’s team is also surprisingly reliant on Haaland, whose 15 goals represent 38% of City’s goals so far this season. His 38 goals last season only accounted for 26% of City’s goals, and he was far from the only one scoring big numbers last season. PFA Player of the Year Phil Foden scored 27 goals in all competitions, while Julián Álvarez scored 19 before moving to Atlético Madrid during the summer. While Haaland is scoring at a similar rate to last season, Foden has just three goals in all competitions so far this campaign and City have done little to replace Alvarez.
The slowdown in City’s attack has been compounded by their reduced defensive capabilities in recent weeks. They have conceded 18 goals during their six-game winless streak, seven of which have come in the last few days alone if you include their 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. They have emerged from sloppy individual errors that have started to add up: City are now averaging 1.4 goals against per game, a significant increase on the 0.9 goals against they scored last season, which also included a period of one month with injury for the first option. Goalkeeper Ederson.
Rodri may be without a doubt City’s best player, but it doesn’t seem reasonable to attribute their regression solely to his absence, even if he plays an important role. Considering the makeup of the squad and the apparent refusal to refresh the squad in the summer, it looked like this season was going to be something of a last dance for Guardiola’s dominant but aging squad. However, the bet on extending the glory days for another year is that this particular version of City may have been closer to the end than originally anticipated.
Guardiola being Guardiola, there is still a chance he can find tactical solutions to get out of this mess. They may be eight points behind Liverpool in the title race, but that’s not exactly irreversible at this stage of the season, and they are still in a strong position to progress to the next round of the Champions League. City being City, they could arguably also attract the players they want to Manchester if they feel it is the quickest solution.
However, whatever the solutions, they are slowly running out of time to find them. Sunday’s clash in Liverpool will offer another report on City’s state, but their run of six games without a win shows that Guardiola’s team struggles in all types of games, not just the big ones. This poor run is as obvious a sign as any that Guardiola’s City as we know it may no longer be functioning, marking the end of an era.
