Manchester City were beaten 2-0 by Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday night to leave their hopes of automatic qualification for the knockout stages in tatters
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Updated 10:18, 12 Dec 2024
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Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher(Image: Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher has labelled Manchester City's current situation as a crisis and suggesting that even Pep Guardiola is unable to find the answers. City lost their latest match 2-0 to Juventus, a result that throws into doubt City's Champions League aspirations.
Goalkeeper Ederson was unable to thwart a powerful header from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie capitalised on lax marking to double the Italian giants' lead.
It leaves City's European hopes hanging by a thread, with the club languishing in 22nd place and boasting just two victories from six games, which could spell a premature exit before the last-16 without automatic qualification. The run has seen the Citizens notch only one win in their latest 10 fixtures across all tournaments and six losses in seven away encounters.
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And Liverpool legend Carragher expressed his shock during his commentary on CBS Sports at Juventus' ability to secure their 12th clean sheet of the season, while witnessing Man City faltering yet again. He exclaimed, "You can't believe what you're seeing. I mean, this is a massive crisis. This was a crisis two or three weeks ago.
"The greatest and most successful manager, possibly, of all-time... he's got no answers for it right now! He's tried different systems, players in different positions..
"He's never gone through this before, so he's got no experience in this situation. Nothing to fall back on, because he's been so successful in the past! I think there's a lot of coaches around the world looking at Pep with a wry smile and thinking: 'Finally! Pep Guardiola is going through something that we've all been through at some stage in our career!"
Manchester City have two pivotal Champions League group-stage fixtures left to play, with an away game at Paris Saint-Germain preceding a home clash against Club Brugge. They currently sit five points adrift of the top eight, who secure their place in the knockout stages by right, and precariously three points away from facing ejection from the competition.
City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has suggested a crisis of confidence and a "mental issue" as the culprits for the team's stumbles. "In crucial moments, at the moment, we are always doing the wrong things," he explained.
Nonetheless, the ever-defiant Guardiola stood up for his squad. "I'm not agreeing with Ilkay," he asserted.
Despite acknowledging only a handful of subpar performances, he maintains that the side has generally delivered well, reports the Mirror.
Guardiola added: "We need one point, three points. Go to Paris to try to do it and then the last game at home. This is the situation because of the game against Feyenoord. Feyenoord, when it was 3-0 with 15 minutes left, created the problems.
"When we turn this around we will not forget this period. We will appreciate more what we have done and what we will do in the future.
"I question myself in the good and bad moments. The dressing room is stable. You have to stand up. What can we do? Feel sorry for ourselves? It's life, it happens."