Guardiola marked by Man City collapse, Pulisic among form players – Champions League Briefing

By / / Sports / 8 minutes of reading


Just when it looked like being a fairly regulation Champions League night, Manchester City delivered yet again.

City’s late capitulation at home to Feyenoord was the shock result as the new league phase entered its fifth round of matches (each team will play eight in total).

There were 40 goals in Tuesday’s nine games, a few thrashings and contrasting fortunes for two of Europe’s most prolific strikers.

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Here are the big talking points from tonight.

Pep Guardiola marked by Manchester City collapse

Isn’t it amazing how a few defeats can lead to utterly scrambled minds.

Manchester City may have ended their five-game losing streak with a 3-3 home draw against Feyenoord but the rueful, sad smile on their manager Pep Guardiola’s face at full-time reflected another humiliating night that may have actually been the worst result of this horrific recent run.

Because this was arguably the most un-City-like thing to have happened in the last month. Being 3-0 up and absolutely cruising with 15 minutes to go… they just don’t throw away leads like this. In fact, nobody does. No team in Champions League history has ever had a three-goal lead that late in a game and not gone on to win.

The reasons and excuses are running out. This was nothing to do with injuries, and judging by the red marks on his face and nose, Guardiola was literally left scratching his head.

Josko Gvardiol started the panic with another error (he contributed to two of Tottenham Hotspur’s four goals as they beat City 4-0 on Saturday), sending a terrible, bouncing back-pass too short for goalkeeper Ederson, and gobbled up by Anis Hadj Moussa.

Guardiola put his head in his hands and looked bereft. Perhaps he knew what was coming.

Thereafter, City’s game management was found wanting. At 3-2 up with a couple of minutes to go, they were still taking quick free kicks and defending up on the halfway line, allowing a ball over the top which led to David Hancko’s dramatic equaliser.

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It was the 14th goal they have conceded in just four matches.

Feyenoord brutally exposed the fragility, nervousness and lack of confidence of a team who have won every competition imaginable in the past three years but have now forgotten how to win a football match.

Next up? Top of the table Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.

Toothless PSG are not helping themselves

We are used to Paris Saint-Germain not converting their domestic dominance from French football into Champions League success, but at least they always get out of the group stage.

PSG have been in UEFA’s top club competition every season since 2012 (having won 10 of 12 Ligue 1 titles in that time) and have progressed to at least the last 16 each time.

However, after yet another defeat in the new expanded league phase, losing 1-0 away to Bayern Munich tonight, they are now in real danger of not even reaching February’s play-offs involving the clubs finishing from ninth to 24th in the 36-team table to decide which eight of them will complete the last 16. Everyone from 25th place on? Thanks for playing. See you next season.

PSG are 26th on four points from five matches (scoring just three goals in them) and still have to face Manchester City (home) and Stuttgart (away) in their remaining three fixtures. Although to be fair, that City game looks pretty easy right now.

Coach Luis Enrique is building a long-term project in Paris, moving away from their galacticos era and trying to create a young, cohesive team, with and without the ball. PSG were also hampered by having to play most of the second half tonight with 10 men after Ousmane Dembele’s red card.

But he’s not helping himself with some odd decisions, like keeping first-choice goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma out of the team to face Bayern in favour of Matvey Safonov, who was at fault for the goal (Donnarumma has had his issues with set pieces too, it must be said).

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Luis Enrique deserves leeway because of PSG’s new long-term approach, but with the talent they still have it would be a disaster if they finished outside the top 24.

Perhaps PSG just don’t have enough match-winners. Bradley Barcola epitomises their contrasting form at home and abroad, with 10 goals in 12 Ligue 1 appearances this season but not a goal or an assist so far in the Champions League.

Sporting feel the No-Amorim Effect

On the night that one of the new kings of European football was all set to ascend to his throne, it was left to an old stager to show him how it was done.

Viktor Gyokeres hasn’t had many off-nights lately. In 25 matches this season, the striker for Lisbon’s Sporting CP had only failed to score in six of them, netting 33 goals and leading to suggestions he could break Lionel Messi’s record for most goals in a campaign.

Well, against one of the best centre-back pairings in Europe in Arsenal’s Gabriel and William Saliba, Gyokeres endured a frustrating night, only managing a couple of attempts in what was a dreadful night for a Sporting team very much missing their former manager Ruben Amorim following his move to Manchester United.

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It ended 5-1 to a serene Arsenal, who picked up where they left off against Nottingham Forest at the weekend with some sublime goals, carving through Sporting at will. Gabriel even mugged Gyokeres off by copying his goal celebration after scoring the third.

Gyokeres is good, but he has an awful long way to go to reach the standard set by someone such as Robert Lewandowski, whose two goals in Barcelona’s breezy 3-0 victory at home to Brest saw the Pole reach a landmark.

He is just the third player to reach 100 Champions League goals, after Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and he helped put Barcelona in a dominant position in second place with 12 points. They are the top scorers in the competition too, with 18 goals from their five matches.

USMNT’s Pulisic joins Champions League’s form players

Who are the most in-form players in the league phase so far? Raphinha is up there, so too Gyokeres, Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Jonathan David and Vinicius Junior.

Christian Pulisic is definitely in the conversation too, with a return of three goals and one assist from his five appearances, adding to the five goals and four assists he has for Milan in Serie A this season.

On the day a trailer dropped for a new documentary series about America’s captain/Captain America, featuring contributions from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jurgen Klopp among others and imaginatively titled ‘Pulisic’, the 26-year-old continued his fine recent form by opening the scoring away to Slovan Bratislava.

To the relief of Tim Howard and Milan’s media team, no, he didn’t do the Trump dance in celebration.

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Video for U.S. readers

Milan weren’t all that convincing against the second-worst team in the competition (Slovan have lost all five games, conceding 18 goals) but edged to a 3-2 win thanks to further goals from substitute Rafael Leao and Tammy Abraham.

Their 3-1 victory at title holders Real Madrid three weeks ago has transformed Milan’s Champions League campaign and, despite losing their first two league-phase matches, they could well nick an automatic qualifying spot for the last 16 if they win their next two, both at home to Crvena Zvezda (formerly and best known as Red Star Belgrade) and Girona.

If they keep Pulisic and Leao fit and firing in the second half of the season, Milan could be ones to watch.

Tuesday’s results

  • Slovan Bratislava 2 Milan 3
  • Sparta Prague 0 Atletico Madrid 6
  • Barcelona 3 Brest 0
  • Bayer Leverkusen 5 Red Bull Salzburg 0
  • Bayern Munich 1 Paris Saint-Germain 0
  • Inter 1 RB Leipzig 0
  • Manchester City 3 Feyenoord 3
  • Sporting CP 1 Arsenal 5
  • Young Boys 1 Atalanta 6

What’s next?

The remaining nine fixtures for match-week five of the eight-round league phase take place on Wednesday.

  • Crvena Zvezda vs Stuttgart (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
  • Sturm Graz vs Girona (5.45pm BST/12.45pm ET)
  • Aston Villa vs Juventus (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Bologna vs Lille (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Celtic vs Club Brugge (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Dinamo Zagreb vs Borussia Dortmund (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Liverpool vs Real Madrid (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • Monaco vs Benfica (8pm BST/3pm ET)
  • PSV vs Shakhtar Donetsk (8pm BST/3pm ET)

(Top image: Amazon)





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About The Author

Avatar of Darlene Mendez
Darlene Mendez is a journalist with Prairie Island News. She has been writing for the paper for over 17 years and has won numerous awards for her stories on local government, education, and sports. Mendez enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also loves watching sports and reading books.

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