'FRAGILE' CITY COLLAPSE AGAIN

LONDON - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is rarely one to point the finger at his players, and despite a calamitous 3-3 draw at home to Feyenoord in the Champions League on Nov 26 after they threw away a three-goal lead, the Spaniard stuck by his team again.

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City find themselves in uncharted territory, mired in a six-game slump after they arrived at the Etihad Stadium for the match on the heels of five straight losses, including a 4-0 rout by Tottenham Hotspur on Nov 23.

It was another miserable night as defensive blunders saw Feyenoord strike three times inside 15 minutes and what could have been a confidence boost for City turned into anything but.

"It was not necessary to say anything to (the players), they know it perfectly," Guardiola said.

"It is what it is, difficult to swallow now. We give away especially the first one and after we are not stable enough. We concede a lot of goals because we are not stable.

"We lost a lot of games lately. We are fragile and of course we need a victory."