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On Wednesday, December 11, Manchester City lost to Juventus 0-2 in the latest round of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) at the Allianz Stadium, to find themselves in the 22nd spot in the league standings with two matches remaining. With yet another difficult result for the city rivals, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand teared into their players, stating that he has never seen a Pep Guardiola’s side ever be this bad, pointing out how they are “under real pressure now.”
Notably, Manchester City kept more than two-thirds of the ball during their clash against Juventus at the Allianz Stadium, but they found it hard to break down the resolute defence of the home team. In the second half, Juventus scored twice, firstly with Dusan Vlahovic’s towering header from six yards out in the 53rd minute, followed by Weston Mckennie acrobatically contributing with a flying volley in the 75th minute.
We just have not seen a Pep Guardiola side in general ever be this bad: Rio Ferdinand
During his stint on TNT Sports after Manchester City’s UCL defeat to Juventus, Rio Ferdinand spoke about how they are such a successful club, which is why he didn’t expect them to perform quite as badly as this. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “They have been a formidable team, they won four Premier Leagues on the bounce, they have a history of being very successful. But we just have not seen a Pep Guardiola side in general ever be this bad. He has to find a way of galvanising this team and reinstalling some form and confidence. They are under real pressure now.”
In their last away eight matches in all competitions, Manchester City have gone without a clean sheet, which is the joint-longest run for Pep Guardiiola’s managerial career, with the previous one being at the same club just over eight years ago. Moreover, on this coming weekend, Manchester City will be playing against their city rivals Manchester United, who are also struggling under Ruben Amorim currently.
