Last season it was a game against Brighton on November 9 that was at the start of City's inexplicable slide. And it was a game against Brighton on March 25 that Pep and Rodri both identified as being the (very late) point where City got its mojo back.
Like then, this loss to Brighton comes as the second straight. Rodri was asked his thoughts on the game:
“Disappointing. We are Man City and we come here to win. But this is our reality. We are not in the level from a long, long time. The only way to come back is to look at ourselves. That is the reality. I think we started well but the second half we dropped a little bit and here at home they pressure and two big mistakes from us and 2-1..."
What does he mean by not being at the level: “We are missing the level. Call it how you want. It is a matter of the team, changes, of course new players have to adapt, when you change the team that much it is difficult. This is our reality. It is not for excuses. We have to look to ourselves and see that this is not the way to achieve things. We got to the international break, clear the mind and come back stronger.”
"...the reality is we have to rise the level if we want to compete for this.”