ManCity welcomes YB to its sky-blue fortress: “At some point we will lose a game”

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The song is crazy! Manchester City have won 22 games in a row at the Etihad Stadium. This is not an undefeated streak. That’s a winning streak! The last time City did not win was on New Year’s Eve 2022. A 1-1 draw against Everton. Which means: In 2023 the Sky Blues will have won all home games. Including a 7-0 against Leipzig, a 3-0 against Bayern, a 4-1 against Arsenal and a 4-0 against Real.

In any case, coach Raphael Wicky does not want to think too much about these figures, successes and records. “If I only see the dangers, I probably won’t be able to sleep anymore. We prefer to believe in our strengths, but we know what awaits us here.”

The people of Bern are not on holiday in Manchester

Captain Mohamed Ali Camara knows this too. He doesn’t really care about these numbers either. ‘It’s about playing our game. We are not there to go on holiday, but to achieve a good result. We want to do better than in Bern.” In other words: get at least one point. So that Switzerland, which represents YB in the premier class, can be proud of the Bernese and their captain.

With a point win, YB would make history. Even in England. This run of success with what feels like non-stop wins is anything but obvious, even for City coach Pep Guardiola. ‘I have no idea what to say. We don’t think about that. We just always try to win the next game. But of course you feel more comfortable at home. You know the size of the wardrobe. We are aware of the good experiences we have had in recent years. We have a good rhythm here, a good spirit, a lot of energy. But at some point we will lose another match or draw. So it is an extraordinary situation.”

“We have to adjust some things”

An answer that is so typical of the Spaniard. Not a trace of arrogance. No arrogance. Never! And if he seems a little tired at the press conference, he is wide awake when Blick asks about the opponent. Because the opponent is almost his favorite category. He knows everything about him.

Or almost anything. He remembers the match in Wankdorf. “After the Bernese equalizer we had a lot of problems. They were very strong in the transition game. Every time we lost the ball they counter-attacked well and caused problems at the back. We hardly had second balls. I had an excellent impression of the Youngs Boys and was therefore very happy with my team. But we have to adjust some things that weren’t right in the first game.”

Because it is dangerous for the winning team if they play each other twice in quick succession. “That can be confusing. It is easy to misunderstand what really happened.” He did not see the match against Winterthur. At least not personally. When asked about Meschack Elia’s dream goal, he said: “Luckily I still have Tuesday morning. Then I can take a look at it. Trust me, we’re busy here. We work a lot.”

Success is not a given

The next job is to fix the round of 16. With a win against YB. “If you can qualify in the fourth game then you should absolutely do it. Then we continue in February. The fact that we have won all three games so far speaks for our consistency. It started with Roberto Mancini. Things continued with Manuel Pellegrini. The club has been so incredibly successful in recent years!”

Even history takes pains to ensure that City’s successes are not taken for granted.

Source : Blick