Manchester City take on a Real Madrid looking to prey on the weaknesses that the Blues have suffered from all season.
Stop crying your heart out was the punchy message aimed at Vinicius Jr and Real Madrid last week, but it applies to Manchester City’s season.
However futile it seems to tap Ange Postecoglou’s injury sign after every setback, it is impossible to deny the short-term impact that absences have had on the Premier League and world champions. Despite the concerns around the squad before the season began, it was injuries to the game’s best player in September and then all of their centre-backs in October that really sent them spiralling.
Pep Guardiola and his side are yet to recover, with mini-revivals followed by thumping defeats against PSG, Arsenal, or Real Madrid. Each of those games saw the Blues ahead or level after an hour, only for late collapses to bring more heartbreak as their hopes of a successful season get slimmer with every game.
In Madrid, they face Champions League elimination before the knockout rounds have even kicked off, with Guardiola giving his side a one per cent chance of overturning their 3-2 deficit against the kings of Europe. Having been below their best too often this season, City will have to produce one of the biggest results in their careers to avoid a hammer blow to their hopes of silverware.
“Part of me thinks they still have a chance of winning the Champions League! I changed my mind after those two late goals and beating Madrid at the Bernabeu would be one of the best results ever but there were moments where City could have had a few more,” said former City goalkeeper Shay Given. “They can hold their own, even in the Bernabeu, but it’s just at the minute there’s a weakness with the goals they’re conceding.
“These are all top players but when a goal goes in they’re a bit fragile. If you look at the amount of goals in the last few months, it’s threes and fours and a five against Arsenal – we’ve never seen that before.
“You always back Madrid to score. In terms of a good season, you obviously write the Premier League off because they’ve no chance of retaining the title but the Champions League is set up with a bare minimum of top four, and then that only leaves the FA Cup.
“It would still be a trophy, and the time could be used to rebuild and reshape the club a little bit and freshen things up. If they don’t win anything, it will be a really poor season from the standards that they’ve set.”
If there were positives from the way City took the game to Real in the first leg, it was also the first time since October that all five central defenders (including Josko Gvardiol) were fit. It didn’t last long, and Manu Akanji, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias all missed the weekend win over Newcastle, but if the latter two could return that would give the team more solidity.
Rodri’s reputation has been enhanced in his absence from the pitch this season, yet Nico Gonzalez produced an encouraging home debut at the weekend and surely keeps his place against the team he grew up wanting to beat more than any other. The more it looks like a familiar City team, the more their chances creep up from a lowly one percent.
“The more consistency you have as a goalkeeper and a back four, the relationships you can build with the full-backs and the centre-backs but there’s also no getting away from the fact that there’s no Rodri to protect the back four,” said Given. “I jokingly said that maybe Rodri would win the Ballon d’Or this year because it is showing how big a player he has been in the years gone by because of what they’re missing.
“They’ve tried to fill that gap in the window so it’s been a problem position all season. But maybe in seasons gone by when they have had Rodri they have had a settled back four as well so it is all entwined.
“There’s no magic wand that Pep can wave, you just have to battle through it. They’ve got some players in the window but we’ve seen players come before and it has taken them time to settle.
“It’s just about grinding out the results and the foundations have to be stronger – sort the midfield, have a settled back four and a goalkeeper to try and give them a base because it isn’t just goals, they’re giving up too many chances to opposition teams. They have to get back to defending for their lives.”
If City want to make Real angry again, they will have to show that they can win a big game without Rodri – in the toughest setting they have faced all season.
Shay Given is a brand ambassador for sports betting platform CopyBet. Visit CopyBet.com