Manchester City throw away a three-goal lead in the Champions League to draw 3-3 at home. Michael Plant gives his reaction after the game.
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00:00I'm at the Etihad after another remarkable game here in Pullman, Manchester City.
00:05Just three days on from the capitulation against Tottenham, didn't really think it could get
00:09any worse.
00:10And although City didn't lose here tonight, you have to say in terms of the mood, in terms
00:14of the performance and the disappointment from the fans, tonight will feel just as disappointing
00:19for City fans because 3-0 up, with 15 minutes left, you presume that City are just going
00:24to hold on for a very comfortable 3-0 win as we've seen so many times over the years.
00:28But City, this really isn't a typical Manchester City at the moment, and incredibly they managed
00:33to let that 3-0 go slip, 3-3 it finished, a just remarkable game.
00:40Another performance I think that underlines how bereft of confidence they are, how I think
00:45fatigue is definitely a factor, how when it turns to the subs, I don't think City have
00:49the reserves that perhaps other sides have to call upon.
00:53Confidence is shattered as well, and City really at the moment are a shell of the side
00:58who two seasons ago won this competition, and of course last season became four-time
01:04English champions in a row.
01:06And Guardiola speaking after the game said he's not going to change anything, but did
01:10say afterwards it's going to be a tough season for his side, and you know, City, we've seen
01:16it before that they've had a tough start to the campaign and bounced back, but nothing
01:20quite like this, and there's so many things that seem off, and to give away a 3-goal lead
01:25after 75 minutes is, it's only kept up for any team, but certainly a Pep Guardiola side,
01:29and it's actually the first time in the history of the Champions League that a side have been
01:33leading in the 75th minute and throwing the game away, so really disappointing night for
01:38them.
01:39It also leaves their hopes of qualifying automatically for the last 16th stage of the Champions League
01:43kind of dangling by a thread really, because they're 15th in the table, realistically they'll
01:47probably drop a few places tomorrow after the games as well, there's every chance they're
01:51going to actually have to win the final three games to secure one of those top 8 finishes,
01:55which automatically ensures you progress to the last 16, so disappointing night all round,
02:00and of course, this is set against the backdrop of what comes next for City, a trip to Anfield
02:05in what feels like a crucial game in the Premier League, City can't afford to lose, because
02:11they would be 11 points behind Liverpool, suddenly this season is feeling like it's
02:15really slipping away from City and Guardiola, and the reasons for that we've gone into plenty
02:19of times before, it's not really a video for that now, but I just think that overall,
02:23such a disappointing night for City, and one that does leave you coming away with a lot
02:27of questions, and the only other thing to mention about tonight's game was there was
02:31a little bit of fan trouble kind of in the corner over there, behind me, there was certainly
02:36a couple of incidents with the away fans, charging towards the place, certainly City
02:40fans, you know it was in the opposite corner from the press box so I couldn't totally make
02:43out what was going on, but certainly City fans seemed to be responding, but there also
02:46were an awful lot of Feyenoord fans in the home end tonight, I saw a few chucked out
02:51in front of the press box, I saw that at the end of the game where the away fans were congregated,
02:56they were almost chanting towards a section of Feyenoord fans who were actually in the
03:00home end, and were almost chatting back and forth at each other, so I think we've seen
03:05that before in the Champions League games, I remember being in a Manchester United game
03:07last year, I think it was against Galatasaray and something similar happened, so not a nice
03:11incident, I don't totally know what happened to be honest as I say, but yeah, overall,
03:16for many reasons, just such a disappointing night for Manchester City and one that they'll
03:20hope to move on from pretty quickly.