In their 2018/19 season, a national treble, Manchester City has lost twice in 22 cup matches.
Their notables were the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. It was the inability to score a goal in London that ultimately charged City when it crashed away in away purposes after a dramatic return game in Manchester that left the overall score at 4-4.
The only other match that has lost the appearance of Pep Guardiola in the Cup this season has been his encounter with Olympique Lyonnais at the level of organization of the same tournament. In fact, City has won either of their two matches against Lyon, drawing 2–2 at The Parc Olympique Lyonnais following the defeat at Etihad Stadium.
Seeing that those were the only two matches between the teams, Lyon begins the 2020 quarter-finals with an impressive record opposed to their war games that this season have controlled to claim an EFL Cup just for their crowded trophy cabinet.
Although there remains a member of the Lyon team that inspired the Etihad, the players who gave them credit that day, as well as the coach who facilitated this victory, are gone.
The dynamism and cunning provided through Nabil Fekir and Tanguy Ndombele went to Real Betis and Tottenham respectively, while left-back Guardiola as City sign, Ferland Mendy, will now be at Real Madrid. Lyon’s coach for those 2018 matches, Bruno Genoesio, is now in the rhythm of the look of the Chinese Super League Beijing Guoan,
Lyon has a new generation of talented young players coming in, they do, but it’s probably too early in their transition to repeat the 2018 performances. That’s why the most intriguing young aspirants can sit on the bench, not judged in a position to introduce the fray.
Rayan Cherki would possibly be the top promising of all, however, he is only 16 years old and is an unused replacement opposite Juventus last week.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide, 22, and Moussa Dembélé, 24, were also limited to a leave of absence from the bank in this match, but promising 20-year-old midfielder Maxence Caqueret appears to be one of the most reliable youngsters.
The young Frenchman will be undercover with two 22-year-olds; Bruno Guimares, and the more familiar Houssem Aouar who played in the last two games against City and attracted Premier League interest accordingly.
Memphis Depay remains on the team last season and is the no apparent threat, while one of Etihad’s scorers, Maxwel Cornet, is expected to appear.
His current coach, Rudi Garcia, has so far fought to lose his own talented organization on Genesio’s path. His seventh position in the 2019/20 season, although everything was made a decision on game-related themes, was the club’s worst since 1997.
Italian club Atalanta, in many ways, has replaced Lyon as the lovable loser of the Champions League, betting as an entrepreneurial and entertaining football brand, while Lyon is now more likely to absorb the tension it counterattacks, especially against the City, than to apply the tension themselves.
City, meanwhile, has been advanced and refined. The club has made many signings in their ranks in the last two years, but two, Rodri and Joel Cancelo, have been close to the first team this season.
Despite his reinforcements, the season has been disappointing. You can simply say that their biggest victory came here from the box at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where they actually appealed and overturned a UEFA ban.
On the field, the club was well below average. An EFL Cup victory showed the intensity of a team’s ability that can regularly put the Ballonfish nominees on the bench, but nine Premier League defeats, one more than their Manchester United rivals who have only lost 8, are unacceptable to Guardiola and the club have given him the skill at his disposal.
City lost their Premier League name to Liverpool and his FA Cup name to an Arsenal team led by former Guardiola assistant Mikel Arteta. But despite the weakness of defending their 2018/19 national dominance, it can still go into history as one of the club’s most memorable seasons, if they triumphed in Lisbon.
A semi-final in 2016 is the furthest city in the Champions League, and this progress came not here from Guardiola, but from its predecessor Manuel Pellegrini. Since then, they’ve left the quarter-finals.
City made their first appearance in the tournament under their current Champions League logo in 2011, with their previous appearance in 1968.
It is a reminder of its relative novelty in this competition, and despite an organization of players and a coach considered to be the most productive on the continent, they have not yet won the trophy to deliver it.
If it is the year in which Guardiola nevertheless reaches the quarter-finals, the year in which City nevertheless reaches the semi-finals, and the year in which he nevertheless wins his first European Cup (Capital C, won 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup), at least he will finish his memorable 2018/19 campaign.
From America to Africa, I practice football all over the world for Forbes. My Fit Day reports on the English Premier League, Liverpool, Everton and
From America to Africa, I practice football all over the world for Forbes. My match day reports are concentrated in the English Premier League, Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City teams from the press gallery in the UK and Europe. The widest angles are concentrated in world football: from World Cups to the Champions League finals, from youth football to foreign matches, I have written on all facets of the beautiful game for media such as The Guardian, BBC and Goal. I have reported on matches in the main nations of European football, adding the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, and I have also written a lot about football in North America and Africa. Some of my paintings come from in-depth tactical research and popularity reports, examining the play styles of various head coaches, game numbers and their long-term stars. I am the founding editor of the Football Media Global Football Index, which produces articles, podcasts and reports from journalists, scouts, coaches and fans.