2023 was a truly special year for Manchester City, as the club sealed an historic Treble at the end of last season.
Pep Guardiola won his fourth Premier League title since coming to the club, then followed it up with another FA Cup, beating rivals Manchester United at Wembley.
Pep then landed the holy grail – a first-ever Champions League trophy.
While there were incredible highs this year, there were one or two bumps in the road, and Manchester City News reflects back on three of the most disappointing moments from an otherwise stellar calendar year…
THAT Southampton defeat
This was every bit concerning as it was disappointing.
Manchester City went to the south coast to take on Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on January 11.
With Manchester United to come at the weekend, Pep rested a few big names such as Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne against the Saints. Both did end up coming on, because City were turning in one of the worst displays City fans have ever seen under Pep.
Southampton were brilliant on the night, beating City 2-0 with goals coming from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo. The second from Djenepo was pretty outrageous, as he lobbed Stefan Ortega from all of 35 yards.
Southampton were fully worth their win and progression into the semi-finals, and City were left to lick their wounds. It really was a chastening defeat.
But this loss is what prompted a refocus, and City became pretty rampant after this game until the end of the season.
De Bruyne goes off injured in the Champions League final
The 2023 Champions League final was supposed to be Kevin De Bruyne’s stage – and his chance for redemption.
Against Chelsea in the 2021 final, he got clattered by Antonio Rudiger and was left with a fractured eye socket, and City obviously lost the game.
So he will have been raring to go more than anybody against Inter in Istanbul.
Sadly, the injury nightmare would strike again for the Belgian maestro, who was forced from the field after he sustained a hamstring injury in the first-half. It was a really sad sight, knowing what had happened the year before.
The £55 million man’s injury might have cost City but thankfully, despite not playing well, Pep’s side were able to get the win via a goal from Rodri, which will live long in the memory.
De Bruyne trudging off the pitch was a disappointing moment in itself, but at least his teammates came through for him.
The 32-year-old’s injury luck would strike again later in the year, as he sustained another hamstring injury in City’s Premier League opener against Burnley. Thankfully, his return to action is now very close.
The Joao Cancelo situation
Last season saw Rico Lewis make a breakthrough at Manchester City, and few would have expected that the youngster would be a contributing factor in Joao Cancelo seeing fewer minutes at the Etihad.
Cancelo had been a top player for City in the 2021/22 season, and he’d also been very good the season before.
That is what made his exit from the club in January 2023 all the most surprising.
Reportedly, Cancelo did not react well to featuring less and less for City, with Lewis starting to gain prominence.
It was claimed that the full-back was becoming a disruptive influence in the dressing room and so, the decision was taken to loan him out, with Bayern Munich landing him for the second half of 2022/23.
Cancelo returned to City in the summer and featured a little in pre-season, but it was clear that there was still an issue between him and Pep, with the manager leaving him out of his matchday squads for competitive games.
Cancelo joined Barcelona on loan at the end of the summer window, and the situation with him just feels very disappointing, considering how good a player he is and some of the amazing performances he’s turned in for City.
It now doesn’t look like he has a future at the club.
