After a comical display of defending in a 3-2 defeat at Carrow Road, Manchester City’s quest for a third-straight league title appears to already be on its last legs.
Leaking three goals to injury-ravaged and newly-promoted Norwich City sent a shocking message to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City: without Aymeric Laporte, this team simply cannot defend. A comedic streak of shambolic errors at the back, led in large part by the mistake-prone partnership of John Stones and Nicolás Otamendi, combined with poor defensive efforts from Alex Zinchenko and Kyle Walker, has created a City defense reminiscent of 2016/17: when City finished third on just 78 points and allowed 39 league goals, by far the worst mark of the Guardiola era.
Although being five points off the top after having played just five games seems far too premature to say that City’s Premier League title bid is already dead in the water, this team without is simply not strong enough at the back to compete with Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, and the litany of defensive mistakes on Saturday was merely the tip of the iceberg. However, this could be just the blessing in disguise City need in their bid to claim the first Champions League title in club history.
Assuming that City will fall well off of Liverpool’s pace during the first half of the campaign but comfortably maintain their position in the top four, the league will become less of a priority, allowing the club to re-focus on its European exploits.
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Fortunately for the Citizens, they were drawn into perhaps the most survivable Champions League group possible featuring Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb, and Shakhtar Donetsk. With Laporte expected to return in January or February, he could be fit in time for the latter stages of the Champions League.
Although center-back remains an issue of concern even when Laporte is fit, he has ingratiated himself into the side as arguably City’s most irreplaceable player.
His presence has impressively masked serious underlying defensive issues and allowed Otamendi or Stones to appear to be solid as the Frenchman’s partner at the back. Moreover, it appears that rumors of further reinforcements arriving in January are unlikely, according to Goal.com.
"“I would like to say to all the clubs in the world don’t be nervous, because we are not interested in any players or central defenders in Europe,” Guardiola said. “We are going to survive with the players we have.”"
While the league may be lost given Liverpool’s perceived impenetrability at the top, the main goal of City’s supporters and club leadership has been to win the ultimate prize for the first time in history: the Champions League.
While a ‘lost season’ in the league where the Reds romp to their first title in 30 years and deny City a historic third-consecutive crown will be difficult to swallow, such unprecedented dominance in world football’s most competitive domestic league is simply too difficult to achieve with the Champions League in mind.
Therefore, while the defeat to Norwich unequivocally dealt a direct blow to City’s title chances, even this early in the season, it could just be a blessing in disguise. Guardiola and his side have fought week-in week-out across four competitions for the last two seasons, which has been to their detriment in Europe’s premier club competition.
If Laporte can return to his absolute best and solidify the defense in time for the knockouts, there is reason to believe that potentially falling out of the league title race could be just the spark that propels City to add the final piece of silverware to Guardiola’s trophy cabinet from his time at the Etihad.