Can’t complain how it went last night with Manchester City | OneFootball

Newcastle United have 14 Premier League games remaining and now have what looks for certain, the toughest three match sequence coming up now, with Manchester City away, Forest at home, then Liverpool away.

Come through that lot pretty unscathed and it would be very much game on, in the remaining 11 league games.

A big bonus ahead of the first of those matches, was the fact that Manchester City managed to find themselves in the Champions League play-off stage, after the end of the tedious new 36 club ‘Swiss League‘ format was concluded.

Even better, they drew Real Madrid, with the two play-off matches timed either side of Manchester City playing Newcastle United.

Tuesday night saw the game at the Etihad, with the return leg in Madrid next Wednesday.

I don’t think it could have gone much better when it comes to our Newcastle United perspective.

Manchester City having the toughest of matches, full-on for 90+ minutes, Grealish and Akanji forced off through injury (Pep Guardiola admitting afterwards he doesn’t know whether either will be available for the second leg, never mind the Newcastle match) defensive/goalkeeping errors aplenty, conceding soft goals, Real Madrid bossing the match (Man City 11 v 20 on shots, 4 v 8 shots on target, expected goals stats of 1.60 v 3.42) and morale battering twice throwing away the lead and losing in added time.

Real Madrid scoring on 86 minutes and 90+2 minutes as Manchester City gifted the match.

A very strange season for Man City, clearly they are now far from their dominance of recent years. A mixture of ageing players in their 30s such as De Bruyne and Silva, a glut of overseas January signings now having to quickly adapt, so massively reliant on Erling Haaland to score the goals, whilst at the other end only three clean sheets in their last 23 matches in all competitions. Whilst they have lost 12 of those last 23 games and only won six.

Next Wednesday is now by far the biggest match of Man City’s season, so far, with Guardiola needing to throw everything at it now to try and progress into the Champions League 16, with zero chance of them winning the Premier League.

How he approaches the Newcastle United match will be very interesting now, with Real Madrid in mind.

A devastated Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday night after this morale sapping defeat to Real Madrid:

“It happens many times this season. Bad decisions, that’s all. I take it. It’s not about you and me, or just the team, it’s everyone.

“We are just not stable enough. I’ve been here for many years and we’ve been an extraordinary team, a machine every three days.

“This year, I accept when the opponent is better but at the moment I’m not good enough to give composure to the team to manage these situations. It’s the truth.

“The accountability belongs to all of us, not just the players. For me, it would be easy to blame a specific player but that is ridiculous and doesn’t work. It is me first and the players as well.

“The truth is that we are not stable enough in those moments. Today is not an exception, it happened many times. Today is what it is, tomorrow you have to continue and have fresh legs and fresh minds.”

Interesting to compare the schedules of Manchester City and Newcastle United.

Newcastle United

Saturday 7 February – Birmingham 2 Newcastle 3

Saturday 14 February – Manchester City v Newcastle

Sunday 23 February – Newcastle v Forest

Manchester City

Saturday 7 February – Leyton Orient 1 Man City 2

Tuesday 11 February – Man City 2 Real Madrid 3

Saturday 14 February – Man City v Newcastle United

Wednesday 19 February – Real Madrid v Man City

Sunday 23 February – Man City v Liverpool

Saturday won’t be an easy match of course for Eddie Howe and Newcastle United but having a full week to prepare and no other immediate distractions either side of this game at the Etihad, Howe and his players can go to the Etihad and have high intensity and energy from the first whistle. Seeing the goals they are conceding, the mistakes made, the defenders struggling when put under pressure, only three clean sheets for Manchester City in their last 23 matches, Newcastle United can have a real go at them. With the two teams only separated by goals scored in the Premier League, this could be a huge result either way, when dictating the direction the rest of the season will go in for NUFC. On the back of 12 wins in 14 games for United, confidence shouldn’t be in short supply.