Did Manchester United find Guardiola’s kryptonite? Amorim has so far swept away only the Citizens’ “B” team. He’s got a much tougher game to play in the Isles

One swallow doesn’t make a spring, but Tuesday’s duel of Ruben Amorim already indicated something. His Sporting managed to beat Manchester City 4-1 at home to end the longest unbeaten streak in Champions League history. Coach Pep Guardiola’s weakened side may have exploded in Portugal, but the Portuguese are in for an even tougher rematch.

• Sporting beat Manchester City 4-1
• Viktor Gyökeres scores a hat-trick
• Sporting are second behind Liverpool with 10 points (12 points)

Manchester City in trouble

They were certainly not the unbeaten team they were last season. Now Pep Guardiola is counting the losses that are forcing him to deploy inexperienced youngsters on the pitch. This has backfired on him three times in the last 7 days. This is evidenced by the losses to Tottenham (2:1), Bournemouth (2:1) and now Sporting (4:1).

While Bournemouth managed to beat the Citizens for the first time in their history, Sporting ended the English side’s streak of 26 games without defeat in the Champions League. Even so, it is the longest streak previously held by Manchester United with a 25-match streak (2007-2009).

Rodri’s injury is noticeable, as is the absence of key assistant Erling Haaland in the form of Kevin De Bruyne. Guardiola is not solving small problems. Moreover, they can still pile up!

Amorim and his first notch

The Portuguese coach, who will soon travel to Manchester to take over United there, has confirmed what has been rumoured about him. Specifically, I mean that he is a very promising coach, who was also reportedly on the transfer list of Manchester City, who are preparing for Guardiola’s departure. It’s only speculation for now, but sooner or later it will happen.

His Sporting side beat the Citizens 4-1 at home in the fourth leg of the Champions League. But why take this result lightly? There are several factors.

Guardiola certainly doesn’t have a complete team, with a number of youngsters jumping into the squad who couldn’t cope with the opposition forwards. Viktor Gyökeres himself, who scored a hat-trick, looks like a hero. But the fact is that he scored two of his goals from penalties and converted one of his two breakaways in a duel with 19-year-old Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, who made his first appearance in the Citizens’ A-team.

After the two defeats, which of course follows on from the fact I described above, the mood in the team is not exactly positive. Add to that the great atmosphere at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Sporting, on the other hand, are doing great, and since the start of the league season it has only happened once that they didn’t win. Only PSV have been robbed of the points when they drew 1-1 at home.

Revenge will be sweet

Soon Amorim will head to England, where fortunately for him a slow start awaits. After the national break, Manchester United will travel to Ipswich. After that, he will welcome Bodo/Glimt and Everton at home. On December 4, there will be an away game against Arsenal, and after Nottingham and Pilsen, it will be a clash with Manchester City on December 15, this time in his lair.

The Red Devils certainly have, at least on paper, a stronger squad than Amorim has at his disposal at Sporting. It’s just that this squad is broken down into its component parts and putting it back together into a functioning team will be a tricky task that no one has been able to solve since Alex Ferguson left. And that there have been some coaches at Old Trafford.

Of course, there’s no telling how both teams will be in a month’s time when they take to the pitch at the Etihad Stadium to duke it out for the Manchester king. What is certain, however, is that Guardiola will do everything he can to run his new rival over like a tsunami.

Source: Whoscored, UEFA