Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City must accept that their title defence will be a “struggle and this is fine”.
The champions’ 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth last Saturday followed their Carabao Cup elimination by Tottenham. Guardiola was asked if the consecutive reverses are merely a blip or a deeper concern.
“It was in different competitions,” he said. “We lost one game [in each] and we have to come back to winning games but we are early in November so many things are going to happen. I know people expect us to win all 38 games 5-0 [in the league] and win the treble every season, because this is our standard, but it will not happen.
“It’s more difficult because we have a lot of [injury] absences. To win the treble everything has to be on the same page – no injuries, good momentum, opponents drop points at the right time. This is not possible because Oscar [Bobb] was the best player in pre-season and we miss him a lot. Jack [Grealish] is still not fit and Rodri, the best player in the world, is not here for the rest of the season.
“We know that we are going to struggle and that is the point. Accept that we are going to struggle and it is fine. Maybe we will lose against Brighton and Tottenham [in the league] but we lost one game and we are two points behind a top-class team in Liverpool. We have done decently in the Champions League. Every team is now more difficult but this is the challenge. Be there and at the end we will see if we can arrive in the last month with the chance to fight for the titles.
“The players know it because they feel it in the last month or two the quality of the teams. That’s why I’m really impressed and really happy that we are still there. Bournemouth deserved to win by far. That doesn’t mean we are bad, we are not going to fight for the titles. When you lose sometimes, the opponents can be better.”
Rúben Dias and John Stones are also missing for City’s fourth Champions League game, at Sporting, with Guardiola’s side on seven points. Erling Haaland appeared to take a knock in training on Monday before the squad flew to Lisbon.
“He’s fine, no problem. We have to occupy the news 24 hours. That’s the reason why,” Guardiola said. “I don’t think [he needs a rest] – maybe international break [starting next week].”
Savinho, Nathan Aké, Kevin De Bruyne, Manuel Akanji and Jérémy Doku have also travelled despite not being 100% fit. Guardiola said: “Manu and Nathan are still having problems, Kevin is getting better, having sessions with less pain so we feel that he feels more comfortable. Doku has had a little problems with muscular issues, Savinho is getting better with his ankle.”
