Manchester City must axe Pep Guardiola if they fail to get past Real Madrid in the Champions League.
That’s the view of talkSPORT host Adrian Durham, who believes the Premier League champions risk being left behind unless they start acting like an elite club again.
Sacking Guardiola would seem unthinkable to many given he has won the last four league titles and in 2023 won a treble that included the Champions League.
However, by City’s high standards, this season has been woeful as they sit 15 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
City progressed into the Champions League play-off round by the skin of their teeth with a victory over Belgian side Club Brugge to ensure that their blushes were spared.
However, the Citizens face a much sterner test this time around as they prepare to face reigning European champions, Real Madrid, live on talkSPORT.
Los Blancos – stocked with global superstars including Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe – currently sit top of LaLiga and look like genuine contenders to challenge on all fronts.
That’s despite enduring a horrendous injury crisis in defence with Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger and Lucas Vazquez all set to miss the first leg of the tie through injury.
It means Erling Haaland and co. will likely face midfielder-turned-defender Aurelien Tchouameni, youngster Raul Asencio or David Alaba in central defence – with the latter still fighting his way back to fitness after more than a year out.
Now is as good a time as any to face Madrid’s makeshift defence and speaking to talkSPORT, Durham explained exactly why it was now make-or-break for Guardiola’s time at the Etihad Stadium.
“I was thinking about this when they got battered by Arsenal – this isn’t Pep’s first rodeo, they get battered a lot,” Durham said on Kick Off.
“They’ve conceded a huge number of goals, they were almost knocked out of the Champions League and they just scraped into the play-offs where they’ve got Real Madrid.
“On current form I don’t think many are expecting City to come through that.
“If they do go out of the Champions League before the last 16, I think that Guardiola should go.
“Let me explain what I base this on because it’s not knee-jerk reaction. There’s a lot to this.
“Back to 2008 when Sheikh Mansour took over at Man City he wrote a letter to the fans and in that letter he said he wanted to build a team that was capable of ‘winning European honours’.
“The only manager to do that in this era is Pep Guardiola, but it’s just one Champions League in nine years.
“Unless something amazing happens they aren’t going to win it this year, so one Champions League in nine years isn’t winning European honours, it’s one honour.
“A lot of money has been spent and he walked into a really good foundation and has been given a lot of freedom with decision-making and you can tell he’s had a lot of input on recruitment which hasn’t necessarily been great.
“I look at it like this: he should be sacked if they don’t make the last-16 of the Champions League.
“If they get beaten by Real Madrid I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be sacked.
“If they go out, they’re not even in the best 16 teams in Europe – it’s not like them being unlucky in a semi-final or beaten in a final – they’re not making the last-16 of the Champions League. That’s not acceptable.
“They’re 15 points off top spot in the Premier League and have lost seven of 24 Premier League games which isn’t acceptable.
“£177million spent in this window and what Pep has said is that they were going to rebuild last summer but thought they’d go with these players – he got that bit wrong.
“It’s a big decision that he got wrong. He’s meant to be this football guru and he’s been brilliant – it’s a bit like Arsene Wenger back in the day – he used to be brilliant but he isn’t anymore.
“Based on one injury to one key midfielder their season has completely crumbled.
“They’ve had other injuries but the season has crumbled and mid-season Kyle Walker has gone.
“You might think well he’s getting on a bit or that he’s lost his pace but Pep said he was their bravest, quickest defender had left and he looked like he was going to cry.
“I’m looking at it and thinking that he can’t even keep hold of somebody that he rates that highly in the middle of a season that’s crumbling around him.
“They’ve been humiliated by Spurs, Arsenal, Sporting, Paris Saint-Germain and even the 3-3 at home to Feyenoord when they were 3-0 up is humiliation.
“Earlier this season they had five defeats in a row and so failure in Europe and failure in the domestic league…if this happened at Real Madrid the hankies would be out and the manager would be gone.
“That’s what happens at big clubs who are trying to dominate in Europe.
“If it happened at Bayern, the manager would be gone. PSG, the manager would be gone. Barcelona, the manager would be gone. Any club in Italy, the manager would be gone.
“By sticking with Guardiola are Man City’s owners aiming to stick at the top of European football or don’t they really care? What are they basing their decision on to stick with Pep Guardiola when it’s gone that badly wrong this season.
“This isn’t what the big, elite clubs do. They change things around and give a chance to someone else who will take them to the top.”
After the first leg on Tuesday, the two teams lock horns in the return leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, February 19.