Worst still, none of this was a surprise. The defeat in the Champions League was City’s 13th in 26 matches. The 14th was no less painful since it saw hegemony passing from Manchester to Liverpool, the visitors effectively confirming the end of City’s unprecedented domination of the Premier League.
Liverpool strike hammer blow in title race with imperious win over Man City
Read MoreThe sight of the diminutive Rico Lewis marking the colossal Virgil van Dijk at a corner was a neat microcosm of the opposing forces. It wasn’t just that Liverpool scored from said corner, but that they expected to. The peerless Mo Salah completed what was a training ground move, albeit with the help of a deflection. The celebration felt so “that’s how I roll”, which is, of course, the essence of big dog hauteur.
Guardiola’s slacks gave the impression of a figure increasingly unmoored (Photo: AP)
City did not lack for effort here. They went forward with a kind of purpose but little of it was convincing. The drilled connectivity of the past has become a sequence of individual attempts at repair.
We can infer from the screeched gestures that Guardiola was not happy with Marmoush’s positioning the wrong side of the defensive line. When the second goal went in Guardiola was abject, a pacing ball of Catalan fire. You sense City’s demise is not only consuming him but his team, a group further slowed by the anxieties of the boss.
Man City vs Liverpool player ratings as 4/10 Trent gets 'skinned' 11 times
Read MoreDe Bruyne, who did not feature in Madrid, considered beyond use by Guardiola, left the field with 25 minutes to go. Even the best have a sell-by-date. The art of the deal is to anticipate their end. Guardiola, it seems, has happened across this realisation too late, the game moving on inexorably beyond his last great creation.
De Bruyne didn’t finish the match, Bernardo Silva remained on the bench, Ilkay Gundogan, overrun in Madrid, was a late replacement for Marmoush. It all felt so yesterday, City floundering against a team playing at a different level and with more in the tank.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Man City are so bad, even Pep’s trousers are dishevelled )
Also on site :