Pep Guardiola has admitted his Manchester City players are “fragile” after their extraordinary collapse against Feyenoord in which they threw away a three-goal lead with just 15 minutes remaining to draw 3-3.
The astonishing finale means City, the 2023 Champions League winners, are languishing in 15th place in the new format after a sixth match in all competitions without a win, including five defeats.
“We lost a lot of games lately, we are fragile and of course, we need a victory,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime after the match. Speaking in his press conference, he said: “It’s not about no run or no commitment, but football you have to be [switched on] in certain moments to do it. Difficult to swallow right now.”
City’s next game is at Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, live on Sky Sports. Defeat at Anfield would leave City 11 points off the summit.
City had appeared set for a confidence-boosting victory against Feyenoord, who are just fourth in the Dutch Eredivisie, after racing into a three-goal lead, with Erling Haaland scoring either side of half-time.
However, the visitors stunned City by scoring three times in the final quarter of an hour – the first time they have thrown away such an advantage under Guardiola. No team in Champions League history has been leading by three goals after the 75th minute and not gone on to win.
