Deja vu for Pep and Man City

London – In a week of new experiences for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, a comprehensive Champions League 5-1 aggregate exit at the quarterfinal stage to Liverpool was an all too familiar feeling.

City have now lost three consecutive games under Guardiola (above) for the first time – having also blown the chance to win the Premier League in the sweetest style by letting a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 to local rivals Manchester United on Saturday.

To complete a miserable six days, Guardiola also lost his cool on Tuesday. A half-time tirade at Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz ensuring he had to watch his side’s latest European exit from the stands. There was some merit to his complaints. Liverpool’s 3-0 first leg lead had already been cut by Gabriel Jesus’s second minute opener before City were wrongly denied a second goal on the night and a route back into the tie by a botched offside call against Leroy Sane.

“When the teams are so equal the impact of these decisions is so big,” lamented Guardiola.

His outburst is the latest in a highly charged season that has also seen him reprimanded by the English Football Association for wearing a yellow ribbon in protest at the imprisonment of political activists who seek independence for his native Catalonia.

Until the past week, City’s near flawless campaign meant there could be no questioning of Guardiola’s abilities as a coach with even Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp revering him as “the best in the world”.

It is now seven years since he last won the second of his Champions League titles as a coach with Barcelona. The ease with which his ultra-attacking approach has been picked off in defeats at the hands of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Monaco and now Liverpool a recurring theme.

In the same time, City’s seven seasons in the Champions League since being bought by the riches of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour, have returned just one semifinal.

Their latest European exit is all the more frustrating as it came at the hands of a side they lead by 17 points in the Premier League. – AFP

When the teams are so equal the impact of these decisions is so big. Manchestrer City manager was not happy with referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.