Pep Guardiola looks for solidity first in Bayern speed test

PUTTING THE WORK IN: Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Aymeric Laporte train Monday ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Bayern Munich. Pic: Mike Egerton

Manchester City are stuck in a Groundhog Day of Champions League defensive disappointments under Pep Guardiola. For the generation’s pre-eminent manager, hired to lead the club to its inaugural triumph, fixing this achilles heel has been a challenge he hopes to finally overcome at a seventh attempt.

After Leipzig were eviscerated 7-0 in City’s last outing in the competition, this was high on the mind of a manager who referred to a number of the reverses suffered due to his vulnerable rearguard. The victory was decorated by Erling Haaland scoring five, yet Guardiola demurred when asked if the Norwegian’s goals are what City missed in the previous disappointments dealt them by Monaco, Liverpool, Tottenham, Lyon, Chelsea, and Real Madrid.