The crisis is looming for City: three defeats in a row, the shadow of Rodri, the goodbye of Pep…

Manchester City faces a crisis…if they aren't already. Pep Guardiola's men were thrashed in Lisbon against Rubén Amorín's Sporting CP (4-1), which extends a streak of defeats (three in a row) that is completed with elimination of the Carabao Cup against Tottenham (2-1) and defeat in the Premier League against Bournemouth (2-1).

In the 'Pep era', something like this has not happened since April 2018, and if City lost to Brighton next weekend, it would be an unprecedented event: four consecutive defeats for Guardiola in Manchester. Continuing with the statistics, City They had not conceded four goals in Europe since October 2016 (4-0 against Barça) and yesterday a streak of 25 games without losing in the Champions League (not counting the defeats in the penalty shootout) that Pep had since May 2022 was interrupted.

The crisis of results is there, although City still has the excuse of being very alive in the Premier League (it is second, two points behind Liverpool); be sixth, at least momentarily, in the Champions League (seven points in four games after beating Slovan and Sparta and drawing 0-0 with Inter); and having already won the Community Shield in August (on penalties against Manchester United).

But beyond the numbers, why are City in this situation?Injuries. It is clear that the carousel of injuries since the season began has been enormous. “We've had 13 injuries and that's never happened in my nine years here.“said Pep after losing to Iraola's Bournemouth. At the moment, and as happened in Lisbon, Grealish, Bobb, Stones, Rodri and Ruben Dias are out of orbit. Walker, De Bruyne (who played five minutes against Sporting) and Doku Ya are fit, but out of rhythm. As a result, the defense in Lisbon consisted of two 19-year-olds: right back Rico Lewis and centre-back Simpson-Pursey.

Rodri's absence. Nothing would be understood about this mini-crisis of the Citizens without mentioning the absence of what is surely the most important player on the team: the Spanish Rodri Hernández, who won the Ballon d'Or at the recent gala in Paris. Rodri will be out for the entire year and Pep is trying to find a replacement with partial solutions that do not satisfy the fans' eyes: Kovacic, Gndogan… Going to the winter market is a solution that is already being considered at the Etihad.

Haaland dependency. Of the team's 21 goals in the Premier League, 11 are from the Norwegian, who yesterday hit the crossbar with a penalty in the Lisbon debacle. The injuries to Doku, De Bruyne and Grealish increase this dependency.

The Foden case. Many City fans do not understand why one of the best players in English football has only played seven Premier League games (out of 10) and only three (including the last two) in the starting eleven. The start of the English season is not going well And City are also noticing it.

Pep's farewell. The Catalan arrived at the Etihad in the summer of 2016 and, in principle, this could be his last campaign, since his contract expires in 2025. This does not have to be a problem for either the club or the coach, but it does create some instability in the team environment. There is already a lot of speculation about who will replace him. Besides, It is now official that Txiki Begiristain, the team's sports director, will also leave his position next summerand it is certain that the Portuguese Hugo Viana will take his place. There was speculation that Rubén Amorim, United's next coach, was going to be Viana's choice to replace Pep, but that will no longer be possible.

Pep's reflection. Yesterday, the Catalan coach expressed himself in the following way: “Now is a difficult time in terms of results but I am here. I want to be here! And I want to fight and not give up, I like this challenge that I have ahead of me as a coach, and whoever wants to follow me will be there!”

And in this scenario, City will play Brighton next weekend, with a fourth defeat on the horizon. Then comes Tottenham… and the unstoppable Liverpool.