Quote from: mamesso on Today at 07:36:17 AM

Quote from: shogun47 on August 21, 2023, 02:34:45 PM

They are definitely not in the same shape they had when everyone was peaking and healthy towards the final phase of last season. Of course they are still the favorites and they can still deliver amazing performances. No doubt about that, but De Bruyne, Gundogan and Silva missing for a few games or even a very long time would weaken every team There has also been an amazing synergy between Gundogan and De Bruyne. They were the perfect complements as midfielders. But let's see if Manchester City can keep their dominance in the Champions League. I believe they will, but I also believe that they are better off with a healthy De Bruyne than without him.

Player injury is one thing that cannot be avoided in football, no one can predict when it will happen and how long he will undergo treatment. De Bruyne injury has been very detrimental to Manchester City, at the same time they have also lost Gundogan who chose to go to Barcelona and Bernardo Silva who suffered the same fate as De Bruyne.

De Bruyne is an important player in the Manchester City squad but without him he could still be replaced by another reliable player, although Manchester City's appearance was a bit unstable due to De Bruyne not being present in the line up, Manchester City is still the top team in the UCL. Guardiola is very aware of the condition of his team without the presence of De Bruyne, he will try to do his best to maintain the stability of his team's appearance to maintain its dominance.

@mamesso while De Bryune is a very important player and his absence is definitely a big loss but it won’t make City weak in fact it’ll give them a surprise element because the opposite coach will have a difficult time guessing what system Pep will deploy. Also when it comes to champions league Bayern is my favourite because of Harry Kane however I’m not underestimating City because of Halland as he can score anytime and change the outcome of the match.