Manchester City will go into their Champions League clash with Real Madrid with a poor record in big games throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
Unexpectedly, Pep Guardiola’s men have substantially underperformed this season, fifth in the Premier League table, with 12 games consisting of five draws and seven defeats.
Furthermore, the Citizens’ display in the Champions League group stage was far from the standards they have set since the Spaniard’s arrival – with the side narrowly avoiding a shock elimination in a dramatic game against Club Bruges.
On Tuesday, City will host the reigning champions Madrid, they will meet for the fourth season in a row. Last season saw Los Blancos win a penalty shoot-out at the Etihad Stadium.
However, the statistics reveal that the game might come at the worst moment for Guardiola’s band – considered his worst-ever City – because they will enter the pitch with a disappointing record in big games during this campaign.
The Citizens achieved only two victories in 14 clashes with big clubs, with four draws and eight defeats.
Statistics reveal that Manchester City could achieve only two wins out of 14 big games this season
However, on Tuesday night they are set to face the Champions League title holders Real Madrid
They lost another disappoiting game against Arsenal with a 5-1 loss at the Emirates Stadium in February
Many of those underperformance came in the Premier League, highlighted by their recent 5-1 loss against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, where the team lost control in the last 20 minutes.
Despite scoring an equaliser in the 55th minute through Erling Haaland’s effort, City saw goalkeeper Stefan Ortega conceding another goal just a minute later by Thomas Partey.
Several defensive errors have cost the team a significant number of points in the league, with just 41 at the moment, behind Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea in the table.
However, it is worth remembering that everything started to go wrong for Guardiola during the very first match of the season, when the reigning league champions could not beat their neighbours Man United during the Community Shield, claiming a victory on penalties despite the 1-1 draw on the scoresheets.
In October, City lost their hopes for a Carabao Cup triumph after another 2-1 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Guardiola, with an injury-hit squad, refused to bring Haaland on the pitch.
Many pundits and fans believe Rodri’s injury significantly affected the Citizens’ poor season.
The 28-year-old has been out since September with an ACL injury, picked up during another drawn game by his side against Arsenal with a 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola’s men managed to equaliser in the last minutes of the match with an effort from substitute John Stones following a corner.
Last October, the Citizens were knocked out of the Carabao Cup as they were beaten by Tottenham
To improve things at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s band brought several players such as Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov
Despite a minor injury picked up during City’s previous game, Gonzalez is understood to be available for the showdown against Los Blancos
To turn things around, they brought in six players for a total fee of approximately £180million, including Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Juma Bah and Christian McFarlane.
However, only the first three were called up for the next Champions League phase after debuting in recent games.
Marmoush and Gonzalez featured in City’s starting line-up against Leyton Orient on Saturday, but the Spaniard was subbed off in the 22nd minute following a minor injury.
Meanwhile, Madrid will come with an injury-hit defensive line, without Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and David Alaba.
