‘Man City have next to impossible task’published at 08:52 Greenwich Mean Time08:52 GMT
Man City 2-3 Real Madrid
John Murray
BBC Radio 5 Live chief football correspondent
It’s not impossible for Manchester City to overturn a one goal deficit in The Bernabeu next week but in the context of the season horribilis (by their recent standards) they are experiencing, it feels it is next to impossible to think they will make it through to the Round of 16.
After all, they only just scraped through the League Phase on the final night and the knock on effect of that was this draw – the toughest they could have got, against the holders with the second leg in the Spanish capital.
And it was yet another night when it seemed what can go wrong, will go wrong for them this season. Twice ahead in the match but ending up losing, and conceding two bad goals late on. They are too easy to score against and that is not a good place to be in when they have to face Mbappe, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham et al again next Wednesday.
Big money reinforcements arrived in the January transfer window. The injury situation has eased for them, although they lost Grealish and Akanji last night – whether they’ll be fit for next week remains to be seen. But it’s possible by next Wednesday night they will have only the FA Cup left to play for. And to add to that, a verdict is looming on the 100-plus charges Manchester City are facing of allegedly breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. But certainly on the pitch it still feels like a crisis is lurking around every corner which is a remarkable place for this previously almost all-conquering team to find themselves.
Source BBC.
