Man City remain the favourites to win the Champions League in spite of their humbling defeat at the hands of Lyon. Pep Guardiola’s men just were not at the races as they slumped to a 2-1 reverse on the back of an uncharacteristically sluggish performance. Yet they responded by thumping Cardiff 5-0 at the weekend and that should restore a huge amount of confidence to the players. There is still a long way to go and City have more than enough quality to overhaul Lyon, Hoffenheim and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group F.
Man City remain the 5/1 favourites to win the trophy, Barcelona and Juventus are next at 6/1, followed by Bayern Munich at 7/1 and Liverpool and Real Madrid at 8/1. City are still the odds-on favourites to win their group and it is entirely conceivable that they would win all five remaining group games. They simply need to cut out the sloppiness, break quicker and move the ball with greater intensity. If you want to wager on their chance to win the Champions you should inform yourself and do some research about Betonline, one of the best in the industry.
Guardiola was serving a touchline ban and he had to allow Mikel Arteta to take over dugout duties, while the empty seats inside the Etihad did not help either. It all combined to create a rather mute atmosphere and Nabil Fekir capitalised, leading Lyon to the unlikeliest of victories. But Group F remains a pretty weak group and a team of Man City’s quality should be able to top it.
Next up, they travel to Germany on October 2 to face Hoffenheim. They have done well to secure consecutive top-four finishes in the Bundesliga, but they have made a shaky start to the 2018/19 campaign. Exciting young coach Julian Nagelsmann has already disappointed supporters by announcing that he will leave for RB Leipzig at the end of the season. That appears to have affected the players and their early season form has been patchy. Beyond Bayern Munich, there is not a great deal of quality in the Bundesliga and this is the sort of game City really should be winning if they are to justify their status as favourites to win the competition.
An away trip to Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk follows, and again they should win it. Five years ago Shakhtar had a great team, but they have regressed and they have not threatened the knockout stages of the Champions League for a while. Then it is Shakhtar at home before a massive game away at Lyon, before a final home game against Hoffenheim. If the fans back the team and pack out the stadium, they could roar City to the top of this group. That could be crucial in securing a kind last-16 draw.
Guardiola says his main goal this season is successfully defending the Premiership title, and that is a fine ambition. No team has pulled it off since Man Utd a decade ago, and competition is fierce, with Liverpool rampant and Chelsea rejuvenated. But City have a big enough squad to seriously compete on both fronts, and surely Guardiola must be desperate to return to the summit of European football.
He won this competition twice at Barcelona, but he could not get past the semi-finals during three seasons at Bayern Munich. This is his third season at Man City and he still has not added to his haul, but he may never get a better chance. Perennial champions Real Madrid are weakened by the losses of Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer. Barcelona appears to struggle in the Champions League. Ditto PSG. Man City now have two great players in practically every position and they can cope with injury. They have been playing an outrageously exciting brand of football, so they are more than capable of going on to win this competition.
