Tonight, Manchester City certainly plays the most important match in his season. Virtually eliminated from the 2024-25 Champions League, the Citizens, who point to 25th place in the ranking, must absolutely win this evening against Club Bruges. At the same time, they must count on a defeat of one of the opponents who is ahead of them, namely Stuttgart, Sporting CP, PSG and Benfica. In a very uncomfortable position, the Champions of England do not want to go to the hatch. But Pep Guardiola is very confident as he explained yesterday at a press conference.
“The situation in which we are forced to win the match, otherwise we will not continue the competition and we want to spend another chance of playing two other matches and qualifying for the next phase. (…) I expect a difficult match. When a team has been unbeaten for 20 games, it is that it is good, there is no secret. I saw certain matches, when they played against Aston Villa (1-0), Juventus (0-0) and Milan (1-3). They have done really well. There are different variations in the construction and marking of men, they make the situation uncomfortable. Tomorrow (today, editor's note), we know that we have to do something special. ”
City advances its pawns
A feat that the Mancunians will have to achieve without their winter recruits, which are not qualified to play the championship phase of the C1. Thus, Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush and Vitor Reis will not be on the meadow this evening. Ditto for the latest arrival, namely Christian McFarlane (New York City FC). But the Citizens still await other reinforcements during this month of January 2025. Indeed, Pep Guardiola wants to get their hands on a midfielder. A gaming sector where he considers that he does not have enough solutions, especially since Rodri's injury. For the past few days, the name of Douglas Luiz (26) has insisted. A player who knows the house well. He belonged to City before being sent on loan to Girona, then being definitively sold to Aston Villa in 2019.
He therefore knows the Premier League well, which he only left last summer. Currently at Juventus, the player under contract until 2029 is the priority for this position. THE Daily Mail Explain that Mancunians accelerate to obtain a loan with a compulsory purchase option set at around € 35 million. In the event of failure, Ederson (Atalanta) is plan B. To compensate for the departure of Kyle Walker to AC Milan, the British also advance on the versatile Andrea Cambiasso. A track that has been followed insistent in recent days. THE Daily Mail evokes a price of around € 70 million for the Italian. THE Corrierre dello Sport Rather speaks of an amount between 60 and 65 million €. A transfer that is planned at the latest for this summer, even if nothing is excluded for this winter. A double blow at € 105 million is therefore in preparation.