PEP’S FLOPS ARE SET FER TOUGH TASK
FEELING BLUE: Laporte and Silva as City crash FERNANDINHO says Manchester City must eat humble pie after their shock Champions League defeat to Lyon.
The Premier League champions produced one of their worst performances since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2016 to lose 2-1 on Wednesday.
It also made them the first English side to lose four consecutive games in the competition. Now Fernandinho admits City need to raise their game if they are to make it through to the knockout stages.
He said: “My point of view is that it’s a tough group. I never thought it was going to be easy and they showed that.
“We had a first half to forget with some mistakes, including by myself. In the second half we tried to take over, to recover the result, but it was too late.
“We have to be humble now and go to Hoffenheim to try and win there – and in the other four games as well.
“It is hard to explain. We conceded two goals and in this competition, we cannot win like this.
“We paid for that and we hope the next time it won’t happen.
“From the players as well there were strong words. It’s the best way to build a very good team.
“Of course we are a good team because we won the Premier League last year, but to compete in Europe against good teams, quality players, you have to have something extra.
“We want to improve. It doesn’t matter how and we are going to work through the week to focus on the next game.”
Meanwhile, former Manchester United star Rafael has taunted City after admitting helping Lyon beat one of his old rivals was extra special.
Rafael, who won eight trophies in seven seasons at Old Trafford before joining Lyon in 2015, reckons City paid for underestimating them.
He said: “Everybody knows I’m a United supporter. To come here and win at City – I’ve never lost here – is very good for me.
“Maybe they thought we are not very good in Ligue 1. We’re not playing very good football. Maybe they looked at the videos and said, ‘Well, they don’t have good confidence’.
“But I think we played really well.”
Lyon have promised to ban for life the fan who was caught on camera making a Nazi salute during the game.
Police are treating the incident as a hate crime. DEJAN LOVREN has denied committing perjury after being charged in Croatia.
The Liverpool defender has been accused after giving evidence during a trial of one of the most powerful football figures in his home country.
Zdravko Mamic was jailed in June after being found guilty of siphoning off millions of euros from transfer fees when he was an executive at Dinamo Zagreb.
Lovren insists he has done no wrong and took to Instagram yesterday to defend himself.
He wrote: “I dismiss all accusations. I did not commit any criminal offence. I am proud of my life, every step of my life.
“The media reported the news before I or my attorneys received the indictment against me for giving a false statement. This is not fair.”
Real Madrid and former Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric is facing the same charge.