John Aldridge has suggested that Manchester City’s pursuit of Champions League glory could be their downfall when it comes to holding on to the Premier League title this term.
A meeting with Atletico Madrid will prove to be a more than challenging affair, with the prospect of further European games potentially set to increase the risk of dropped points domestically.
“City are desperate to win the big trophy in European football because after throwing an obscene amount of money in a bid to win the Champions League, they keep fluffing their lines when it matters most,” the 63-year-old wrote for Independent.ie.
“They face a tough quarter-final against an Atletico Madrid side who will do everything in their power to stop them playing.
“Atletico have a method of playing that is hard to love and equally tough to overcome, as Liverpool found to their cost in the Champions League a couple of years back.
“We saw what they did to Manchester United at Old Trafford earlier this month but it will be good for Liverpool if City get through to play either Chelsea or Real Madrid in the semi-final.
“That will be a taxing assignment and it might drain them when they play Premier League matches.”
The Merseysiders find themselves right on the coattails of their league rivals, with only a point separating the two outfits in the title race.
It’s worth balancing the argument and noting that Jurgen Klopp’s men will have a similarly challenging fixture schedule should we get past Benfica in two legs – particularly with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich potentially lying in wait in the semi-finals.
That being said, we’d like to think our more than solid experience in the competition (especially of late under our former Mainz coach) could allow us to charter a relatively smoother path through tumultuous waters.
The key for us in the meantime will be to try and get a positive result at the Etihad, which is far from impossible if we can manage to bring back our positive run of form prior to the international break.
#Ep42 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Is Jota underappreciated? FA failing fans… and more!
As ever, Liverpool CANNOT stop banging on about City.
As ever, City say nothing about Liverpool.
May I remind you that Aldridge, long held to be Liverpool Football Cult’s resident village idiot, in the 2018/19 season went on and an about how he knew City would blow it.
And the rest is history. That you even bother to report what this has been says in itself says all we need to know.
Silence is golden. Even for Scousers. Still, if it keeps you warm at home in the dark night…