Pep Guardiola has reportedly issued an ultimatum to the board, saying, “They either sell him or sack me—this player is trying to undermine me.” Guardiola has requested the sale of a specific underperforming Manchester City player who lost possession more than any other player on the field during the Champions League match against Sporting CP.

Manchester City suffered a heavy defeat against Sporting in the Champions League, marking their first European loss since April 2022 due to a poor second-half performance.

Phil Foden put City ahead early, but despite dominating the first half and missing several chances, City allowed Sporting to equalize through a Viktor Gyokeres breakaway.

Just 22 seconds into the second half, Sporting earned a penalty, following an early goal that stunned City after the restart.

Gyokeres further extended the lead with another goal later, while Erling Haaland capped City’s difficult night in Lisbon by hitting the bar on a penalty.

Here are some highlights you may have missed from City’s latest Champions League outing:

Haaland’s continued struggles

Despite consistently finding good shooting positions, Haaland’s shots aren’t hitting the target.

Against Bournemouth, he missed a few quality attempts, and in a match against Southampton where he had one of his highest expected goals metrics for City, he scored just once.

At Sporting, he was in good positions but missed multiple decent opportunities.