Manchester City And Pep Guardiola At Crossroads As Arsenal Take Premier League Pole Position | OneFootball

Manchester City’s season has reached an unfamiliar crossroads. For a side that has defined the recent history of the Premier League era through relentless consistency, City now find themselves searching for rhythm, control, and belief. Their latest setback, a damaging 3-1 defeat to Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League, deepened the sense that this campaign is drifting away from the standards set during Pep Guardiola’s most successful years at the club.

City travelled north of the Arctic Circle to face Bodo/Glimt at Aspmyra Stadion and found themselves staring at defeat almost from the first whistle. A quick double from Danish striker Kasper Høgh inside the first 24 minutes stunned the visitors and put City on the back foot early. Norwegian attacker Jens Petter Hauge then added a third goal in the second half before Rayan Cherki pulled one back for City, but the damage was already done. The contest took an even darker turn for City when captain Rodri was dismissed for two quick bookings shortly after Cherki’s goal, effectively killing off any hopes of a comeback.

The loss was Bodo/Glimt’s first-ever victory in the Champions League and was hailed as one of the competition’s most unexpected upsets, leaving City’s hopes of automatic qualification for the last 16 in jeopardy. Much of the discussion after the game focused on how this result magnified City’s struggles, particularly given that the Premier League champions were without 11 senior players through injury, illness, suspension or ineligibility on the night.

Guardiola refused to hide behind excuses, instead acknowledging that his team just has to find a way out of their current malaise. “It was an incredible opportunity for us,” he told ESPN. “The feeling is that everything [that can be] going wrong, is going in many, many details. That is a fact and you have to try to change it.” When it was suggested, his side looked flat, the Catalan scoffed at the notion, insisting the players must find a way to reverse their fortunes.

City’s only victories in 2026 have come in domestic cup ties against Exeter of League One and Newcastle, a stark return for a team built to dominate on multiple fronts. The inconsistency has also shown itself in the Premier League title race, leading online betting sites to favour a new winner outside of the Man City/Liverpool axis this season. That potential winner, Arsenal, currently sit seven points clear of City with only 16 games remaining, underscoring how much ground Guardiola’s squad must make up if they are to have any chance of reclaiming the title this season.

Consistency has always been the foundation of Guardiola’s dominance in England. Title wins were not built on dramatic comebacks or emotional surges but on week-after-week certainty: winning when not at their best, suffocating opponents, turning pressure into inevitability. This season, those qualities have been absent too often. Possession has not always brought dominance, pressure has not always produced goals, and once routine victories have become fraught contests.

Guardiola remains defiant in his belief in the squad. “But the players are there, and we’ll try,” he insisted. Those words reflect the reality that City still possess world class quality across the pitch. The issue is not talent, but cohesion and clarity. Title winning City sides were relentless because every player understood their role and executed it with unwavering focus.

Reaching those levels again will require more than players returning from injury. It will demand a collective reset, sharper decision-making, greater efficiency in both boxes, and the mental resilience that defined Guardiola’s greatest teams. With so much still to play for, City must turn a season of fine details going wrong into one where those same details fall decisively back in their favour if they are to revive their Premier League title hopes.