Manchester City’s miserable start to 2026 continued on Tuesday night when their first ever meeting with Norwegian opposition ended in a shock defeat.
Fresh off a humbling loss in the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola took his side into the Arctic Circle to face Bødo/Glimt on Champions League Matchday 7.
The 3–1 scoreline ensures City have lost back-to-back games and have only two wins to show from their seven fixtures across all competitions so far this calendar year.
Having ended 2025 with eight straight wins, including victory over Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu, City are now heading in the opposite direction.
“Today was an incredible opportunity for us, but the feeling is that everything is going wrong,” Guardiola lamented after the final whistle in Norway, acknowledging the wider slump. “It’s going against us in many, many details, and that is a fact, and we have to try to change it.”
It was a junior team named by Guardiola, with an average age of just over 24 years making it their youngest ever in the Champions League. But there was equally no shortage of elite experience when the XI included Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Rodri, Gianluigi Donnarumma, even Rico Lewis.
One player who has been thrown in at the deep end this month is 20-year-old Max Alleyne, recalled from a loan spell at Watford and immediately expected to start alongside the barely older Abdukodir Khusanov. Alleyne was at fault for each of the quickfire double scored by Kasper Høgh just two minutes apart midway through the first half, first missing an interception after breaking the line to win the ball and then miscontrolling the ball in City territory.
Jens Petter Hauge even put Bødo/Glimt three goals ahead 58 minutes in. Rayan Cherki immediately pulled a goal back, but Rodri’s dismissal moments later following a second yellow card gave City what proved to be an impossible mountain to climb.
Playing in his native Norway, Haaland missed a glorious chance to halve the deficit just before the interval. After a blistering start to the season, his only goal in the past month—since Dec. 20—is the penalty he converted against Brighton & Hove Albion two weeks ago. Otherwise, it’s eight games and counting without a non-penalty goal, including the 10–1 annihilation of Exeter City in the FA Cup.
Man City Results So Far in 2026
| Date | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 1, 2026 | Sunderland 0–0 Man City | Premier League |
| Jan. 4, 2026 | Man City 1–1 Chelsea | Premier League |
| Jan. 7, 2026 | Man City 1–1 Brighton | Premier League |
| Jan. 10, 2026 | Man City 10–1 Exeter City | FA Cup |
| Jan. 13, 2026 | Newcastle 0–2 Man City | Carabao Cup |
| Jan. 17, 2026 | Man Utd 2–0 Man City | Premier League |
| Jan. 20, 2026 | Bødo/Glimt 3–1 Man City | Champions League |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Everything Is Going Wrong’—Man City, Erling Haaland Miserable Run Continues in Shock Champions League Defeat.
