On this evidence Pep Guardiola has considerable work to do before Manchester City play Sunderland in their opening Premier League game. “We are far away from where we want to be but people can’t imagine how hard it is – at the end we’re going to get there,” said Guardiola, who was phlegmatic when asked if City may be undercooked. “In football the season starts when the last one finishes. You don’t have time to rest. We’re going to kill our players. We can give them two or three weeks but the schedule is the schedule. We start in two weeks. We try to organise. We trained really well in Manchester.
“I know we’re going to play not with the level I want in February, March and April but it is what it is. OK, we will play two more friendlies before Sunderland and we’ll see how the condition of the players is and we’re going to decide.”
One player Guardiola wants to add, however, is John Stones. City and Everton remain in talks with the Goodison Park club holding out for £50m. “Everyone knows we are going to try,” said the manager. “We will see what happens.”
Guardiola admits some of his squad may be struggling to grasp what he wants from them. “I don’t know, some players get it immediately and the other ones never,” he said. “Some of them I can tell a lot and they understand the process immediately. And for some of them one session is enough. So that’s when we speak we have to meet each other. It’s for a good reason. I can handle and see how they react and how they play.”
There was no place for Samir Nasri, who was overweight when he returned for pre-season. Guardiola, who will not let overweight players train with the first team and has banned some foods, including pizza, said: “Sami arrived a little bit overweight but he’s much better now. Still there is a little bit of weight. Last season he was injured and we want to avoid that. The players that are on the pitch they are fit, their weight is in the right place.”
This was Borussia Dortmund’s sixth pre-season outing to City’s second and many of Guardiola’s star players did not start, so a penalty shootout win over a side who defeated Manchester United 4-1 last week in Shanghai is hardly shabby.
The half-empty view is that City lack rhythm, desperately need more game time and, certainly before the break, showed an inability to heed one of Guardiola’s prime demands: not to hoof the ball goalwards. The requirement for more action is why an extra friendly will be staged next week – it may be against St Johnstone – to compensate for the derby with United in Beijing on Monday being cancelled.
Guardiola sent his team out with a three-man defence featuring Nicolas Otamendi, with Aleksandar Kolarov to his left and Tosin Adarabioyo the right. The wing-backs were Gael Clichy and Jesus Navas, a midfield trio of Fernando – the least advanced – Fabian Delph and Ferdandinho, with Oleksandr Zinchenko, a kind of floating No10 behind Kelechi Iheanacho.
City’s opening was scrappy. Willy Caballero made a number of mistakes that were a mix of poor clearances that went straight to Dortmund, and insecure goalkeeping that allowed one Marcel Schmelzer cross to squeeze under him.
Guardiola was not pleased. During a drinks break the manager headed straight for Oleksandr Zinchenko to tell him off. This may have been about the pass the Ukrainian failed to make to Jesus Navas when the Spaniard had a chance to shoot.
With Eliaquim Mangala, Bacary Sagna and Kevin De Bruyne not here because of a post-Euro 2016 rest, Guardiola chose to leave David Silva, Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling, Yaya Touré, Samir Nasri, Nolito, and Wilfried Bony from the XI. They were on the bench, while Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta were not, though it is understood neither player is injured.
After a first half that featured none of Guardiola’s trademark slick style the question was whom he might introduce. The answer was Agüero, Silva, Bony, Touré, Aleix García, Jason Denayer, Pablo Maffeo and Angus Gunn for Caballero.
This made eight changes, only Fernandinho, Adarabioyo and Kolarov remaining. As Toure played in the defeat at Bayern, of Guardiola’s A-listers this was the first action for Silva and Agüero.Bony with Agüero to his left and Silva to his right comprised City’s second-half attack in a 4-3-3. They carried a threat previously absent and the Ivorian latched on to one Silva pass and worried Roman Buerki, in goal, with the attempt.
As with the United-Dortmund match the crowd was disappointing: the venue appearing to have filled only a third of its 60,000-capacity. What did not disappoint was City’s willingness to try to ensure Gunn’s goal was not breached, Maffeo making one impressive clearance.
Then came Agüero’s 79th-minute opener, from a Silva pass. Towards the end the replacements Touré and Bony were themselves replaced, by Sterling and Nolito. With virtually the last kick Christian Pulisic equalised to take the game to a penalty shootout which City won 6-5. But what matters is the work between now and 13 August.
Manchester City (3-5-1-1): Caballero (Gunn, ht); Adarabioyo, Otamendi (Denayer, ht), Kolarov (Celina, 78); Navas (Maffeo, ht), Delph (Touré, ht, Sterling, 85), Fernando (Aleix Garcia, ht), Fernandinho, Clichy (Agüero, ht); Zinchenko (Silva, ht); Iheanacho (Bony, ht, Nolito, 85).
Borussia Dortmund (4-4-1-1): Buerki; Ginter, Papastathopoulos, Bartra, Schmelzer; Leitner, Sahin, Rode, Dembélé; Mor; Ramos.
Referee: Fu Ming.
