Man City in trouble: Two ominous signs hinting at UCL elimination before the second leg comeback against Real Madrid in the Round of 16.
On 17 Mar 2026 GMT+7, two ominous signs for Manchester City, the English Premier League runners-up, were revealed ahead of their attempt to overturn Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League 2025-26 Round of 16 second leg, scheduled for 03:00 tonight GMT+7.
Man City is backed into a corner after Real Madrid's 3-0 win in the first leg last week. However, two notable statistics signal danger that the "Sky Blues" might fail to overturn the "Los Blancos" and advance to the quarterfinals.
- This season, Erling Haaland started strongly, scoring 25 goals in 24 games for Man City across all competitions during 2025. But since entering 2026, the Norwegian striker has managed only 4 goals in 17 matches.
Haaland's drastically reduced scoring rate is a worrying sign for Man City, especially when they desperately need goals to overturn a 3-goal deficit against Real Madrid to advance.
- The last time Pep Guardiola guided a team through a UCL knockout stage after losing the first leg was in the 2014-15 season with Bayern Munich, who lost 1-3 to Porto in the quarterfinal first leg but came back to win 6-1 in the second leg, advancing 7-4 on aggregate.
Since then, in the last five attempts, Pep has never managed to advance in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage after losing the first leg, including three occasions as Man City's manager.