Don’t worry about Manchester City

Despite a lackluster opening performance in the Champions League, Manchester City are going to be just fine at home and abroad

Manchester City lost their opening Champions League fixture 2-1 to Lyon at the Etihad on Wednesday, but it’s far too early to worry about the reigning Premier League champions. It was a match to forget for the blue half of Manchester. Mistakes across the pitch led to Lyon’s first goal and what should have been a joyous start to the European season became a nightmare. But is it a sign of trouble for the future, or just a blip on another march to silverware?

Let’s take a look at why City should be able to brush past such a timid performance.

Key absences

City were without their manager, Pep Guardiola, due to suspension. Guardiola is regarded as the best manager in the world for myriad reasons, one of which is his ability to tinker game-plans on the fly and communicate them to his team during action. With him relegated to a box in the stands, City were without their leader in a crucial fixture.

They’re also dealing with the continued absence of Kevin De Bruyne. Although they possess as much depth as any team in Europe, losing their best player affects City as much as it would any team. City were able to retain possession at a high rate during this game, but without De Bruyne’s ability to play line-breaking passes, the attack stagnated for much of the match. Sergio Aguero was unavailable to start due to an ankle issue and he was noticeably hampered when he came on for Gabriel Jesus.

They were still basically good enough to win

There has been a lot of handwringing about their performance, but the numbers are pretty clear. City did enough to win the match. Lyon took full advantage of their press and finished one clear cut chance, and Nabil Fekir scored a beauty of a goal from outside the box. Aside from that, the French side didn’t create all that much.

City were the better side going forward, as they are in basically every match they play. They outshot Lyon, both in total and shots on target, had a tight offside call go against them and had a penalty shout go uncalled. City weren’t quite their overwhelming selves, but it was more than enough to get them over the line on most days.

It’s early days

City currently sit third in the Premier League tale behind Chelsea and Liverpool, having only dropped points in their draw with Wolves. Through five domestic matches, they’ve scored the joint-most goals and have the best goal differential, plus-11. City will face off against Cardiff and Brighton in their next two league matches before a blockbuster date with Liverpool on Oct. 7.

Not to get too analytical, but City are fine. Sure, they aren’t firing at all cylinders the way they were a year ago. But that was to be expected. Last year’s performance was literally the best team the Premier League has ever seen. Regression to the mean was always to be expected for Guardiola’s side. However, City’s mean is still probably better than everyone else.

Also, City have been selected into a Champions League group with minnows like Hoffenheim and Shakhtar Donetsk. Despite the hiccup yesterday, City should surely advance into the knockout rounds without anymore trouble. They’re simply too talented not to.

Counterpoint

This has been a rose-colored glasses approach to City’s season so far, so let’s temper some of that. Does Guardiola have a Champions League problem? City are the first English team to lose four consecutive matches in the history of the competition. It feels safe to say Wednesday’s performance was an outlier, but City were thoroughly outplayed over two legs by Liverpool in last season’s quarterfinal.

Guardiola hasn’t gotten past that round with City yet and hasn’t reached a final, let alone won one, since 2011 with Barcelona. Guardiola’s tactics may be the pinnacle in a domestic season, but over two legs, it’s proven to falter year after year now. City have invested hundreds of millions into their squad and it’s paid off with three Premier League titles in the last decade. They might even win another this year. But it’s yet to bring a Champions League trophy home to the Etihad.

Speaking of the Etihad, why aren’t City fans showing up to games and creating atmosphere? Reports from Wednesday saw the stadium barely more than half filled with supporters and the volume at the ground seemed quiet, especially for a European tie. A match with Lyon isn’t the sexiest, but it’s still the opening match day of the Champions League. The Etihad isn’t exactly a fortress to begin with. Without support, it seems an even easier hunting ground for visitors.

So, although there are still many reasons for optimism and for staying calm, City fans are surely allowing for some doubt to creep into the backs of their heads.