For more reasons than one, Manchester City are in dire need of a positive result as they welcome Feyenoord to Manchester in the Champions League this week.
- Date: 26/11/2024
- Kick-off time: 20:00
- Location: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Pep Guardiola's side find themselves in an unprecedented position heading into this game having lost five matches on the spin. Not only have City never lost five in a row under Pep Guardiola before, but prior to last weekend, Guardiola himself had never lost five straight games in his entire managerial career so the Blues are very much navigating murky waters at this stage of the season.
City have precedents for starting seasons slowly and rectifying their errors as the months progress, but there are certain features of their performances this season that give the impression that this season is the start of an inexorable decline for a squad that's won everything there is to win.
The loss of Rodri, the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, has clearly been hugely impactful to the champions, but his absence has been compounded by several of City's longtime stalwarts like Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan and Kyle Walker ageing out of their prime. On top of that, many other perennial Guardiola servants -including the likes of Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva - look to be well short of their usual level.
Even if the squad lacks a replacement for Rodri, or for Kyle Walker, there is enough talent to suggest that City should be performing at a higher level than they are doing currently, so the issue clearly runs much deeper than surface-level quality.
If we delve into the underlying numbers slightly, City are currently conceding an average of three big chances per game, a number that's nigh on unthinkable for a Guardiola team. In fact, City have conceded more big chances (36) than they've created (35) this season. For context, in each of the last six seasons, City have created between two and three times more big chances than they've conceded.
It takes an unimaginable amount of mental energy to win as perpetually as City have done over the past few years so there's a high chance that several members of this team are simply exhausted. Every squad needs rebuilding at some stage, it could well be that City's time is overdue.
Feyenoord are currently 21st in the Champions League group stage with six points from four games. It's been a fairly solid start to the season for an Arnie Slot-less Feyenoord side, a team that harbour hopes of securing a playoff spot in the group phase of this competition.
Feyenoord are having a reasonably strong season in the Eredivisie where they sit 3rd in the league, losing just one game, with new manager Brian Priske having helped navigated the loss of Slot well.
The Dutch side lost a couple of big players in the summer with Mats Wieffer having signed for Brighton while Lutsharel Geertruida left for RB Leipzig. However, they've dealth with the departures well, with the likes of Igor Paixão and new signing Hwang In-Beom enjoying fruitful campaigns.
Feyenoord are unlikely to qualify for the knockout stages of this competition automatically so the playoffs is their targeted route. They're currently a minimum two points clear of sides outside of the playoff places so they don't have a tonne of wiggle room. In reality, they need six points from their final four games to be confident of a playoff spot. Extraordinarily, they may well feel like this tie with Manchester City offers them the best chance at three points from their final matches.
Champions League 
