Football writer Alex Keble analyses Tuesday's UEFA Champions League matches for Premier League clubs.
Man City’s collapse marks a new low for unravelling defence
Man City 3-3 Feyenoord
It was all going so smoothly. Manchester City were 3-0 up with just a quarter of an hour remaining and order, surely, had been restored at the Etihad Stadium.
It is scarcely believable that, within 20 minutes, Pep Guardiola would be looking physically bruised and battered in his post-match press conference, having endured one of the toughest moments of his Man City career.
"The game was fine at 3-0. We were playing good and we didn't concede much, but after that we conceded a lot of goals because we are not stable," Guardiola told Amazon Prime after witnessing a defensive collapse that had him scratching at his face in disbelief.
"We gave them the first [goal], and the other one, and in that way it's difficult. Because we lost a lot of games lately, we are fragile, and of course we need a victory. The game was good for the confidence, we played at a good level and then the first time something happens, we have problems."
City were the masters of their own downfall at the Etihad. Feyenoord's first goal was an unforced error from Josko Gvardiol. The second was again Gvardiol’s mistake; this time, his positioning was all wrong as he allowed Jordan Lotomba to cross for a Santiago Gimenez tap-in.
The third resulted from City's wildly disordered high line and some rash defending from Ederson. Three avoidable goals, all betraying the panic that had descended on Manchester.
Feyenoord’s Expected Goals (xG) map shows the scale of the collapse. They mustered only 0.18 xG up until the 75th minute before scoring from three big chances.
Guardiola's side are breaking all the wrong kinds of records.
Man City became the first team in UEFA Champions League history to be leading a match by three goals as late as the 75th minute and fail to go on to win.
This was also the first time City had let a three-goal lead slip since 1989, and not since 1963 have they conceded two or more goals in six consecutive matches.
Worse, their Champions League campaign needs saving. City have only eight points from five matches and are firmly mid-table ahead of trips to Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. These are now must-wins if City want to finish inside the top eight to qualify for the last 16 and avoid two more playoff matches in February.
Guardiola must be left wondering how much lower they can go.
See: Man City's report and line-up
Arsenal get statement win to put them back on track
Sporting 1-5 Arsenal
“That is a great challenge that we have, to come here and make a statement and show we are capable against this kind of opponent,” Mikel Arteta told reporters before Tuesday’s match.
The Arsenal manager got exactly what he wanted. His team were slick and ruthless in Lisbon, racing out of the blocks to score an early goal, seize the initiative and then put the game to bed before half-time.
In the process they condemned Sporting to their first defeat in all competitions this season, while securing the Gunners' first away victory in the Champions League since beating Sevilla in October 2023 six matches ago.
It was the kind of Arsenal performance we were used to seeing in 2023/24 but had eluded Arteta’s side this season until last weekend, when Martin Odegaard helped inspire a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest that had similar hallmarks to Tuesday’s thrashing.
Suddenly everything seems brighter. Back to their best, Arsenal’s nine-point gap to Liverpool somehow doesn’t look as insurmountable as it did a week ago, while in Europe there is a real sense the Gunners are a force again.
Moving back into the Champions League's top eight, Arsenal’s straightforward fixture list - Monaco (H), Dinamo Zagreb (H) and Girona (A) - suggests they are on course for safe passage into the second round.
See: Arsenal's report and line-up
