Slovan Bratislava vs Manchester City LIVE: Champions League result and reaction after McAtee and Foden score
City travel to the Slovakian capital looking for their first win in the new Champions League league phase
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Manchester City eased to a 4-0 victory against Slovan Bratislava in the second match of their 2024/25 Champions League campaign.
With over 20 shots in the game, Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring in the eighth minute, with Phil Foden adding a second in the 15th minute. Erling Haaland and James McAtee doubled the visitors’ lead in the second half to ensure the comfortable victory.
Pep Guardiola’s side sit second in the Premier League after a somewhat disappointing draw against Newcastle last weekend, and they’re looking for their first three points of the new European campaign this week after drawing 0-0 at home to Inter Milan last time out.
The Cityzens have lost Rodri for the remainder of the season and will be without Kevin De Bruyne in the Slovak capital, though they come up against a Slovan Bratislava side that lost 5-1 to Celtic in their European opener on 18 September.
Follow all the latest Champions League updates with our live blog below:
Man City’s Champions League successes
This is Man City’s 14th successive season in the Champions League. They have featured in every campaign since 2011/12 and have reached the knockout stages in each of the last 11.
Having claimed the club’s first Champions League title in 2022/23, Pep Guardiola’s side won all six group games for the first time last season to finish six points clear of RB Leipzig in the standings.
That was the seventh successive season in which City had come first in their group.
City then beat Copenhagen in the round of 16 but lost an epic quarter-final against eventual champions Real Madrid – the third season in a row in which they had faced the Spanish side.
Slovan Bratislava vs Man City
Slovan have won all four home European matches this season – scoring 14 goals – as many victories as in their previous 13 games (six draws, three defeats).
Weiss Jr on his time at Man City
“I have the best memories of my time at City,” said Slovan Bratislava’s captain when reminiscing about the start to his professional career.
“It was an amazing achievement to break through to the first team at a young age with the players that were already in the squad. With time, there were better and better players and with Mancini coming in, my chances were getting smaller.
“I am always going to watch City, not just because they’re my first club but because they play the best football in the world for me. To watch City for me is a pleasure. I’m following the club and it’s a club that’s always going to stay in my heart.”
A City homecoming for Weiss
Vladimir Weiss Jr moved to Manchester as a teenager and came through the City Academy. He scored in the 2008 FA Youth Cup final as City’s youth side defeated Chelsea to lift the trophy.
Weiss then played five times for the senior team before joining Bolton Wanderers, Rangers and Espanyol on loan before eventually moving to Pescara on a permanent deal in 2012.
Now, he captains Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League and the former City winger will look to get one over on his old club.
Arsenal and Man City’s heated rivalry has just reached a new level of tension
Mikel Arteta eventually felt he had to speak, specifically in order to quieten things down. You couldn’t have a clearer indication of how the Manchester City-Arsenal tensions had reached a peak, after all, than Pep Guardiola himself willingly bringing up the “115 charges”. Some City officials had previously bristled at the media or anyone else mentioning the prospect of the club being punished, and yet here was their most important football figure putting it front and centre of the week’s biggest story.
That showed how affected Guardiola had been by Arteta’s admittedly open-ended comments from Tuesday. The Arsenal manager had spoken about how he has “all the information” on City, having worked at the club for almost four years. Arteta was actually talking about gamesmanship, given all the criticism of his own team over “dark arts”, but the way it was said could have easily been portrayed as talking about the hearing. Guardiola evidently felt that way.
This was also why Arteta took the opportunity to indeed make clear what he meant, and cool those tensions a bit.
Arsenal and Man City’s heated rivalry has just reached a new level of tension
Mikel Arteta attempted to cool down the temperature after Pep Guardiola’s comments about the rivalry, but there is certain to be more noise as the title race heats up
Vladimir Weiss on Pep Guardiola
The Slovan Bratislava manager spoke with praise about his opposit number tonight: “I like many coaches – Ancelotti, Klopp, Bielsa – but Guardiola is unique.
“He had changed football. Every player in the team plays in his position and all of them know what their job is on the pitch. This approach makes him a special and outstanding coach.”
Slovan Bratislava team news
Slovan Bratislava XI: Takac, Blackman, Kashia, Bajric, Wimmer, Savvidis, Ignatenko, Barseghyan, Tolic, Weiss, Strelec.
Subs: Trnovsky, Hrdina, Voet, Medvedev, Marcelli, Mustafic, Mak, Zuberu, Pauschek, Gajdos, Szoke, Metsoko.
Manchester City team news
Pep Guardiola makes six changes for his side’s match against Slovan Bratislava, with Ortega, Stones, Nunes, Savinho, Foden and Doku all coming into the side.
Man City XI: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Gundogan, Nunes, Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ederson, Carson, Walker, Dias, Kovacic, Grealish, Silva, McAtee.
The problem facing Man City stretches beyond Rodri’s injury absence
Manchester City began without one of the outstanding individuals of last season. No, not that one. Or not just that one, anyway. Rodri was the most conspicuous absentee at St James’ Park on Saturday as, barring an injury to Erling Haaland, he will be for the rest of the campaign. But Phil Fodenstarted on the bench. His bit-part role has been camouflaged by the sudden realisation that Rodri will have no part to play in the next nine months, but it is less than six weeks since Foden was anointed PFA Player of the Year.
It is an understatement to say his candidature for a second successive award has had a slow start. City have played six league games this season. Foden has begun none. Euro 2024 was why he was an opening-day replacement against Chelsea. He missed two matches through illness, spent the next as an unused substitute and came on in the last two. Perhaps it is a fact that points to potential improvement for City: Foden, scorer of 27 goals last time around, could provide an injection of excellence for a Rodri-less side.
The problem facing Man City stretches beyond Rodri’s injury absence
As Pep Guardiola looks to find his best team, the Manchester City manager may find he has an imbalanced squad and too many attacking players who are out of form
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