Injury-plagued City cannot afford to slip up in Turin

Manchester City's manager had his head in his hands.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Not for the first time in the Champions League, admittedly. But at a rather earlier stage than usual. Indeed, it felt like an overreaction, given that his team were 3-1 ahead at the time. Pep Guardiola's histrionics may been premature but they came to look like a premonition. Josko Gvardiol's hideous blunder proved the start of a Feyenoord comeback: 3-1 became 3-3. Two weeks ago, City dropped two points.

They now find themselves needing to win in Turin. Almost certainly, only a run of three victories will suffice for City if they are to salvage a top-eight finish in the Champions League group stage. A team who seem fatigued, overworked and plagued by injury could stumble their way into a greater workload, with the prospect of a two-legged play-off in February, the second match a few days before City host Liverpool.

The meltdown against Feyenoord formed part of Guardiola’s worst-ever run. It also changed the context. Beat the Dutch club and they may have only needed to triumph on one of their trips to Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, assuming they defeat Club Brugge at home in January. Now there seems no room for error. “They are able to win three times in a row,” argued Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.

However, City now have one win in their last nine matches while Juventus are unbeaten in Serie A and have been defeated only once in all competitions this season. They are draw specialists and, had City seen off Feyenoord, a draw would have been a reasonable result for them in Italy. Not now.