Ninety-six hours before Manchester City's do-or-die UEFA Champions League game at home to Club Brugge, Pep Guardiola took the unusual step of effectively confirming a selection decision.John Stones will start a game where anything less than three points for the 2022/23 winners will end their participation before the knockout stages.

It is a source of some bewilderment that Guardiola, of all coaches, should have allowed such a key part of his team to fall into decline

With Manchester City needing a win to avoid a stunning early exit from the Champions League, Pep Guardiola wasn’t in the mood to discuss the prospect of his once-dominant team crashing out of European club soccer’s most prestigious competition.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 26: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Everton FC at Etihad Stadium on December 26, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

The clock is ticking down and Deadline Day is fast approaching for Premier League clubs to get their transfers in

Guardiola has spent his entire Manchester City career urging the team to slow their play, now he's telling them to go direct. Why?

It is not that the gilded De Bruyne, silky Silva or Nunes have become bad players overnight. All three remain either elite or excellent on their day but it has become obvious that they need to be accompanied by younger, more energetic legs to do some of the defensive donkey work around them.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was reluctant to consider the impact of an early Champions League exit, as he admits that his side have simply not been good enough.A Club Brugge side who City

To hear Guardiola praising the collective of Paris Saint-Germain over his outfit shows just how dramatic the unraveling of the past couple of months at City has been.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said teams have changed tactics because they are no longer intimidated by his side, which is making their Champions League campaign more difficult.

Manchester United were beaten at Old Trafford by Brighton, while Tottenham lost at Everton; both sides languish in bottom half yet both Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou stand by their styles, amid injuries and adversity.

Manchester City’s Premier League revival is gathering pace after a 3-1 win against Chelsea moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to fourth in the standings