Crumb and weakened in the Premier League, Manchester City and Pep Guardiola drag out their melancholy before going to challenge Juventus, this Wednesday in Turin, in a Champions League where they have already dropped too many points.
The English giant is showing a little demeanor after having won only one of their last nine matches, in all competitions. And his Spanish trainer is struggling to find the miracle cure.
“The season started difficult, it will be difficult all season”warned the boss of CitizensSaturday, after a new disappointment with the poorly ranked Crystal Palace (2-2).
The weight of the wounded seems to weigh heavily on the shoulders of Guardiolafourth of Premier League eight lengths from the leader, Liverpoolwho played one match less.
The reigning four-time English champions are orphans of the totem environment Rodri, Ballon d’Or 2024probably for the rest of the season. Its lining, Matthew Kovacicwas also overtaken by physical problems, like others (John Stones, Nathan Ake, Oscar Bobb…).
And those who remain on deck are starting to stick out their tongues, according to the attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva. “With a squad of 20 players, if you only have 13 available, it’s not enough”it becomes “difficult for everyone to play every three days”.
PSG on the horizon
“The doctors and physios are doing an incredible job this season, like I've never seen before. But the reality is that we have few players to rotate at the moment.”pressed Guardiola.
On the continental scene, the picture is neither catastrophic nor frankly brilliant for the 2023 European champions. Held in check from the start by theInter (0-0), they outclassed Bratislava (4-0) and the Sparta Prague (5-0), before falling heavily against the Sporting (4-1 defeat) then collapse against the Feyenoord (3-3), wasting a three-goal lead in the last twenty minutes.
Before the 6th day, they occupied seventeenth place in a league comprising thirty-six teams. At present, they are therefore closer to the play-offs (between 9th and 24th places) than to direct qualification for the round of 16 (Top 8).
The trip to Piedmont this Wednesday is all the more important as it will be followed by an equally perilous trip to the Parc des Princes on January 22 to face the Paris Saint-Germain.
Collection of draws
The Juventus and his trainer, Thiago Mottaare also going through some turbulence. Their last victory in the Champions League dates back to October 2, at Leipzig (3-2). And since then, they have collected draws: eight in twelve matches, all competitions combined, counting the one snatched on Saturday against Bologna (2-2) in added time.
In Serie ATHE Bianconeri are undefeated, but they are in sixth place, seven points behindAtalanta Playingnotably because of a poor attack (24 goals).
“It's Juventus, the most important team in Italy with Milan and Inter. In the history of the championship, it's the team that has won the most, it's a beautiful stadium, we will try to achieve a good result.”be wary Guardiola.
If the Spaniard is interested in history, perhaps he could take inspiration from his own. During the winter of the 2022-2023 season, defeats against Brentford, Southampton, Manchester United et Tottenham had led him to wonder if his team, already multi-titled, had lost its thirst to win.
A few months later, he ended the season with a hat-trick Premier League, FA Cup et Champions Leaguethe first C1 history for Manchester City.
