Times are hard for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola. Beaten 0-2 by Manchester United in the derby, the Cityzens now trail Arsenal by seven points. Hoping to bounce back in Norway, City were favorites against Bodo/Glimt, but they were 3-0 down after an hour, with a subdued Erling Haaland (three shots in the whole match), before Rayan Cherki reduced the deficit (3-1).
The defeat does not threaten qualification, but it puts City’s place in the top eight—synonymous with direct qualification for the round of 16—under pressure. Before the late kickoffs, they had only a one-point lead over ninth-placed Liverpool. Pep Guardiola, however, rejected the idea of a poor performance.
“After one minute of play, everything was a bit against us”
“I disagree. We didn’t have Jeremy (Doku) or Savinho, nor proper wingers, and in other areas we were missing many important players who give us more coherence, but I didn’t feel the team wasn’t up to it today. They are well organized, they force you out, and we don’t have players who can win one-on-one and create chances behind. In general, they are really good, so congratulations to them”.
“I don’t know if it’s a bit harsh (to give Rodri the red card, editor’s note), but that’s how it is. After one minute of play, everything was a bit against us. We feel that many little details are going wrong and we have to try to change that, but the players are there,” Guardiola said.
Haaland agreed that it was no fluke. “Bodo fully deserve their win. It’s not enough from us. They play fantastic football. I don’t know what we could have done differently, we gave everything. We started well before the first goal, then they scored again. Jens (Hauge) scores the goal of the century, then we get a red card. No, it doesn’t surprise me”.
“I’ve seen almost all their European matches over the last four or five years. I’ve seen teams come here and struggle like we did today. It’s not easy to come and play here. But we are City, we will win games like this. It’s just a shame,” the Norwegian striker said.
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