PEP'S PAIN
Pep Guardiola has scratches on head AGAIN as he watches Man City’s must-win game against Club Brugge
City had to beat Brugge to qualify for the Champions League play-offs
PEP GUARDIOLA has been spotted nursing more injuries to his forehead after a disastrous half from his Manchester City stars.
The Spaniard watched on in horror as his side went behind against Club Brugge in a must-win Champions League showdown.
4
4
4
Guardiola cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as Raphael Onyedika swept in on the stroke of halftime to stun the Etihad.
The 54-year-old was agitated throughout as a City team featuring Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and Phil Foden failed to fire in the opening 45.
City required three points to avoid an embarrassing early exit from the competition they won in 2023.
Guardiola was seen with red scratches on his forehead as he took his seat on the bench just before the break.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
But Mateo Kovacic levelled early in the second half, before a Joel Ordonez own goal turned the game around.
A wound-up Guardiola was booked minutes after the leveller for remonstrating with the officials.
And after City took the lead, he booted a water bottle hard across the dugouts.
It's not the first time Pep has struggled this season with a similar scratching issue.
Most read in Sport
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
He watched his side throw away a 3-0 lead to Feyenoord in November and cut his own nose with his fingernail.
Guardiola put the issue down to a "skin problem" after concerned fans noticed his post-game appearance.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola’s recen struggles could be a response to the end of his marriage to teenage sweetheart Cristina Serra
He explained: "I have a skin problem.
"I have to take antihistamines for two, three years.
"It’s not a matter of that time [against Feyenoord].
"The nails – yes – I caught them on my nose. But the rest [of the catches] was down to [the skin problem]."
The revamped Champions League format sees an eight-game Swiss Model instead of the traditional 32-team group stage.
New Champions League format is a snorefest
By Dan King
UEFA sold the idea of expanding the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams, with each playing eight games instead of six in the opening phase, as a way of creating more competitiveness and excitement.
The biggest clubs would have two matches against their peers, rather than having to wait until the knockout stage to meet.
The smaller clubs would meet teams of a similar level twice and have a chance of tasting victory that was so hard to achieve if you were the bottom seed in a group of four.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that the real motivation was the simple equation of more games = more money, the theory itself already looks flawed.
None of the matches between European giants has delivered a compelling contest yet.
And why would they? At the start of the long season with more matches in it, why would any team with ambitions to win things in the spring, go out all guns blazing in the autumn?
Especially when they know they have six games NOT against big sides to make sure they accrue enough points to qualify at least for the play-off round (and even more games).
There is even less jeopardy than before.
Read the full column on the Champions League format fail and why everyone - including YOU - needs a rethink.
The top eight teams automatically qualify for the last 16 and are joined by the winners of a play-off round between those that finished ninth to 24th.
Those that finish 25th to 36th are eliminated from all European competition - teams no longer drop into the Europa League.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
City eventually won the game 3-1, with Savinho netting off the bench.
But Guardiola has now been given another headache, with either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich awaiting in the playoffs.
4
Topics