The Fall of a Football Giant: Manchester Citys Champions League Defeat and the Future of the City Empire
The 2024-25 season has been a disastrous one for Manchester City, with the club experiencing its worst campaign under the guidance of Pep Guardiola. The team's descent from soccer's apex to humiliation has been a messy and painful journey, culminating in a 6-3 aggregate loss to Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday. However, City's early exit from the Champions League was neither surprising nor sudden, as it had already suffered a near-calamitous league phase amid a season that had long ago careened off the rails.
One of the key reasons for City's collapse has been the unexpected injury to Rodri in September, which turned a humming season on its head. Losing a Ballon d'Or winner at the base of midfield left City especially porous, without equilibrium, and searching for answers that simply never materialized. Guardiola never found an appropriate adjustment, and he had no like-for-like replacement readily available or a tactical tweak up his sleeve to regain balance. As a result, City reeled and never recovered.
While it would be oversimplistic and inaccurate to chalk up City's collapse to one ligament, the question remains whether Rodri's injury has exposed lingering flaws or simply been compounded by bad luck and other injuries. Many of the players who propelled City to four straight Premier League titles are aging, with Kevin De Bruyne well past his prime and Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gündogan, John Stones, and others on the wrong side of 30. Their apparent declines coincided with the disappearance of Rodri's support but aren't necessarily products of that disappearance. On the other hand, however, there are still young legs in the squad, but they have also been hurt. City's defense, once protected by Rodri, has been particularly unhealthy at the exact time when it was left exposed.
Despite this, there is still talent on Man City's books - gobs of it. There is Foden and Erling Haaland, Bobb and Rico Lewis, Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias, Savinho, Nico Gonzalez, and Omar Marmoush. This, by many measures, is still the deepest squad in Europe. There is every chance that it returns to the top of the Premier League next season. But there is also a chance that none of City's new wave will ever compare to the four straight title winners. There is a chance Rodri is never the same, and a chance equilibrium is never restored.
There is also a chance that this season from hell has taken a real toll on Guardiola, who recently signed a two-year contract extension but could decide to leave the club in search of new challenges. The future of Manchester City is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the club will need to find a way to regain its equilibrium and return to its historic heights if it is to avoid being remembered as a footnote in football history.
