Pep Guardiola has single hope after Man City handed brutal Liverpool truth

Kevin de Bruyne fired a shot that went closer to the corner flag and he looked to the sky. Pep Guardiola turned away in frustration before heading for the tunnel as the half-time whistle blew.

It was 45 minutes which reminded Manchester City just how far they’ve fallen behind rivals Liverpool this season.

In truth, this whole week has proven just how much City have regressed this term. They were easily dispatched by Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. Their defeat by Liverpool has left them 20 points off the Reds at the top of the table.

Their hopes of winning five leagues in a row disappeared quite some time ago. Not since the 2019-20 season when Jurgen Klopp ’s Liverpool ran away with the title has Guardiola’s side been so far behind.

But they have never reached the end of February under the Spaniard and been out of contention in both the Premier League and European Cup.

Guardiola tried to salvage something from the season with a £172m shopping spree in the January market.

The arrivals of Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and the impressive Omar Marmoush are the start of Guardiola’s restoration of his once all-conquering side.

But there is more work to do in the summer. It looks like De Bruyne will depart when his contract ends. The Belgium midfielder was so often the star of this team but he is no longer so bright. A great player but now epitomises their fall off this season.

His first-half effort summed that up. It was a shot mixed with frustration and lethargy. A player who was angry with himself that he could not dictate a fixture he would have cherished in his pomp.

Guardiola took him off with over 20 minutes to go with his side still in the game which would have been unthinkable not so long ago.

De Bruyne and City’s focus will now be ensuring they finish in the top four or five to qualify for next season’s Champions League with the FA Cup their only chance of silverware. Then a new-look Guardiola side will hope this fixture is title-deciding once again next season.

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