I cannot agree with you. Undoubtedly, Manchester City is a worthy contender for this season's Champions League title. Rather, I think Bayern Munich's chances of challenging for the title this season are slim. Because of losing Lewandowski, their performance is now unstable. On the other hand, Barcelona and Manchester City are now stronger and more stable than in the East. My guess is the battle for the Champions League title this season will be mainly between Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG and Barcelona.
Manchester City looks different this season because it is reinforced by Erling Haaland. So far Haaland has successfully become a new idol for supporters. In the Champions League, I still doubt Manchester City can reach the final. But I'm more convinced that teams like PSG, Barcelona and AC Milan have the chance to make it to the final. Apart from Manchester City, I also doubted Real Madrid.
To be able to help us speculate further about the team that has the chance to win the trophy, it would be nice if the group stage was over.
You are right though. Manchester City is now dependent on Haaland. Guardiola has placed Haaland at the center of his match strategy. So we still don't know how Manchester City will perform without Haaland in the squad. However, apart from Haaland, Manchester City also have talented players like Grealish and Riyad Mahrez. I think Grealish and Riyad can help Manchester City stabilize their performance in Haaland's absence.
There have been only two group stage matches so far. And so it is difficult to predict which team is strong enough and worthy to win the title.