Something is rotten in the state of Pep Guardiola.Manchester City has been slacking for quite some time, and the blatant decline started near the end of 2024, which prompted the Cityzens boardroom to add more than a few names to the already star-studded squad. The January Transfer Window saw Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis arriving at the Etihad Stadium after City splashed more than €142 million in a single week. It was not enough to win anything.CWC: City – OUT! Blue Tsunami wipes out Pep’s crew in a seven-goal thrillerTherefore, the ongoing transfer window has strengthened Pep’s lot with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, and Rayan Cherki. The total sum of €338 in 2025 was good enough for the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16 exit! Moreover, it’s not like City were eliminated at the hands of, for instance, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich or some other football colossus. Their cryptonit was none other than current Saudi Pro League runners-up Al Hilal, who stunned them 4-3 last night after extra time.##NAJAVA_MECA_9000682##Guardiola didn’t sound too sad after the game despite being on the ropes. He said that his task now is to sort out the issues they faced in Florida before the Premier League opener at Wolves on 16 August.Pep said: “It was a difficult game. We allowed them to make transitions but we created a lot. It is a pity – we have been on incredible journey together and so good place. The vibe was really good.”We would have loved to have continued. We had a feeling that the team is doing well, but we go home and now it is time to rest and rest our minds for the new season.”##EDITORS_CHOICE##Unlike his coach, Bernardo Silva didn’t hesitate to show his disappointment and bewilderment about the loss.”It does feel a little bit like going out of the Champions League, yeah,” he admitted.”No one wanted to lose, we are very used to not having holidays, unfortunately, because the schedule is crazy. But when we are in a competition, we take it very seriously, and we had a lot of ambition for this Club World Cup, and we wanted to win it.”There was always a feeling of danger coming from them when they recovered the ball in transition and their counters. The amount of time we allowed them to run was bad for us, they punished us. We allowed them to run way too many times, we didn’t control the offensive transitions as well as we should have and apart from that we had chances, we scored three goals and we could have scored five or six.””We have been on an incredible journey.” 💬Pep Guardiola has spoken following Manchester City’s exit from the #ClubWorldCup. pic.twitter.com/q6EG9ItNJW— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 1, 2025 The Portuguese midfielder said that most teams that beat them play the way Al Hilal did last night in Florida.”We are very used to playing teams like this. We’ve played against teams like this for eight or nine years and we didn’t control those situations.”I’ve had a lot of disappointments and a lot of great things happening to me in my career. So whatever happened in this competition, in one month when we start the Premier League, we will forget and focus on having a great season.”We’ve had a lot of frustrations in the past as well, and we managed to come back. We’re going to try and do that again, knowing that we have a lot of competition, but we’re going to work very hard,” concluded he.FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP 20251/8 finalsSaturdayPalmeiras – Botafogo 1-0 AET (0-0)/Paulinho 10/Benfica – Chelsea 1-4 AET (1-1)/Di Maria 90+5 pen – James 64, Nkunku 108, Neto 114, Dewsbury-Hall 117/SundayPSG – Inter Miami (4-0)/Neves 6,39, Aviles 44 og, Hakimi 45+3/Flamengo – Bayern 2-4 (1-3)/Gerson 33, Jorginho 55 pen – Pulgar 6 (og), Kane 9, 73, Goretzka 41/MondayInter – Fluminense 0-2 (0-1)/Cano 3, Hercules 90+3/TuesdayManchester City – Al Hilal 3-4 AET (2-2)/Silva 9, Haaland 55, Foden 104 – Leonardo 46, 112, Malcom 52, Koulibaly 94/22.00: (1.67) Real Madrid (3.70) Juventus (5.50)Wednesday04.00: (1.80) Dortmund (3.60) Monterrey (4.60)***odds are subject to change***
