Here we are, mere hours away from what could be one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League knockout history.
Manchester City are 3-0 down in their quarter-final tie against Liverpool, wounded from their defeat against Manchester United at the weekend, throwing away a 2-0 halftime lead to lose the game 3-2 and, in the process, having to wait a bit longer to win the Premier League.
It’s a tough ask, some might say impossible, but as former Manchester City forward Kiki Musampa told La Cuarta in Chile, if there’s one team that can pull it off, it’s Pep Guardiola’s side.
He said: “They’ve shown attacking football, with a great team. However, you have to admit that everyone was expecting more from Guardiola’s City, especially after the huge amount of money they invested in the squad.”
That underwhelming feeling is echoed by another former member of the club, Rolando Bianchi, who played for the blue side of Manchester between 2007 and 2008.
“Pellegrini’s Manchester City reached the semifinals,” said the striker, “and that puts him a step higher than what Guardiola has achieved now. However, the supremacy they’ve had in the Premier League is surprising.”
He continued: “It’s obvious that it would be a deception if they went out in the quarters. Since Guardiola left Barcelona, his teams have never been able to go past the semifinals in European tournaments, and that’s a worry. Domestically, he doesn’t have rivals, but he’s found it hard on the European scene”.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but there’s no denying the frailties both Liverpool and Manchester United have exposed in the Spaniard’s team over the past week are worrying, and they’re something the former Bayern Munich manager will want to rectify ahead of Tuesday night.
