The away dressing room feels a little removed from the rest of the Etihad Stadium, tucked away down a corridor and away from the hustle and bustle of a Premier League tunnel.
Once the bell rings, it’s a journey to reach Manchester City’s unique stairs, which take players past a corporate area resembling an aquarium, where spectators sporting gold laces gape through one-way reflective glass.
By the time they finally line up to leave, opponents have already been greeted by a wall-sized canvas of City’s Treble Trophy lift – the first thing they see upon entering the main tunnel area. Just in case they didn’t know what was in store for them.
For many, this is a long road to impending doom. They know what awaits them, and players privately comment that the team meetings their managers have organised in the days leading up to the game can sometimes result in a constant stream of videos demonstrating how Pep Guardiola has destroyed this club and that one. This feeds into the mentality that the Etihad is impenetrable and seeps into the psyche.
No visiting team has won here since November 2022, when Ivan Toney inspired Brentford to a 2-1 victory just before the mid-season World Cup. Forty-seven games and counting in all competitions. There are only eight instances of longer unbeaten runs at home, across all divisions, in English football history.
Manchester City are on a 47-match unbeaten run at the Etihad and their rivals are intimidated
For City, this is all routine, but for visiting teams, the long walk to the pitch can feel like impending doom.
City’s rivals have succumbed to the aura of what Pep Guardiola has created
One of them came in the 19th century. Another is Liverpool’s Bootroom. Another is Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. Another is Cloughie’s Forest. Another is Stockport County in the 1920s and Plymouth Argyle, when the third division was regionalised.
This is currently the toughest stadium in Europe to enter as an opponent, something Arsenal (unbeaten in 11 away games) must overcome today if they are to make a serious dent in the title race.
Premier League sources refute the suggestion that teams are beaten before kick-off but admit that succumbing to the aura of what Guardiola has created may prove inevitable. They speak of paranoia about conceding an early goal and feeling powerless to stop the dam breaking. One can quickly become two; two can quickly become three.
For City, this is all routine. The gathering at the training ground on Ashton New Road for a meal and a pre-match briefing; the half-mile bus ride afterwards, greeted by supporters outside the main reception. The sharing of family photos hanging on the walls outside their dressing room. Guardiola had cut the wifi in the inner sanctum in the early days before reversing his decision.
Relaxed, at odds with what’s happening at the end of the hall.
It was perhaps illustrative of the general thought process of managers earlier this year when Unai Emery made the decision to alter half of his preferred starting XI for a visit to the north-west.
Fourth-placed Aston Villa prioritised other, more winnable games – and a Conference League tie against Lille – over trying to hammer the champions, which is all the more surprising given Villa beat them in the first leg earlier in the campaign.
“It was important to play intelligently against Manchester City,” said Emery. And he doesn’t mean tactics. “We prepared for the game trying to win, but also thinking that with some players injured and (John) McGinn suspended, we could train with some players.”
There is paranoia that one City goal could quickly lead to two or three and the dam breaking.
Other clubs have already talked about the mental approach involved in going to the Etihad.
It may not be the most intimidating place (although the stands can get wild on the biggest nights, notably games against Arsenal and Real Madrid in 2023, when Federico Valverde admitted it was one of the toughest atmospheres he has ever encountered), but it imposes this suffocating fear on those in front of it.
“It’s similar to Old Trafford when Manchester United were good,” said one source. “It’s scary to see who you’re playing and what they’ve done.”
Fear takes over this subconscious mindset of moving forward, with survival mode being the default setting.
Inter played masterfully on Wednesday night in their goalless draw in the Champions League, but they have one of the best defences in the world. Not everyone is lucky enough to have Alessandro Bastoni. Even so, on a night when City were nowhere near fully functioning, they wasted at least three presentable chances to finish off the Italians.
Arsenal will have been keenly watching Inter’s approach, a model they themselves followed in what was seen as a title decider last April. Mikel Arteta camped his team in their own third, abandoned the aggressive individual pressing that was their downfall during a 4-1 thrashing a year earlier and played for a point. Kai Havertz was the only player whose average position was in the City midfield that day.
“In the past, sometimes we were in those games and we went crazy, we lost control, we lost transitions and we lost 1-0 or 2-0,” Guardiola said. “I still worry about how we can do better, create more, when teams defend so deep. That’s always my dream, my goal. On Sunday, at some moments it’s going to happen, and it’s about how good we can be.”
Guardiola called himself the best pragmatic coach of the moment. It is a surprising fact, but his pragmatism means something different to ours: Guardiola’s idea is to keep the ball as high up the field as possible, that is, to play normally.
Arsenal must now overcome City if they are to make a dent in the title race
Mikel Arteta camped his team on their own field and picked up a point in March.
“When people say that Pep talks about how beautiful football is… no, no, no, not even in my time at Barcelona, not at all,” he said. “Do you know why? Because the ball is very, very, very far from Ederson, from our goalkeeper. When the ball is closer to my goal, I tremble now.”
The Arsenal version from six months ago featured a good point and was hailed as a blow to City at the time.
William Saliba and Gabriel did a good job on Erling Haaland and, by organising themselves in that way, for such a strong back four, they significantly increased their chances of an equaliser.
But a win? The prospects of that happening are diminished by Arteta’s plan, and the fine line separating the team from Bournemouth is best described by Andoni Iraola.
Last season, Iraola had been in charge of the match against Bournemouth, which they lost 6-1. Bournemouth held on for half an hour, but a goal was scored and the massacre began.
“We made a mistake because we felt falsely comfortable defending low,” Iraola admitted. “We decided not to press, not to be so aggressive, and I don’t think that was the right decision.”
Bournemouth gave up their power that day, as did Arsenal. The defence is fine, but without the threat of counterattack (something Inter maintained all week), the Etihad is no longer that aquarium, but rather a slaughterhouse.
Remarkably, last season was the first in Guardiola’s career in which he finished without losing a single home game in all competitions.
Arteta’s approach to City training has changed massively since the arrival of Erling Haaland
And the long unbeaten run coincides with Haaland’s arrival. As well as Arsenal dealt with him in April, the defence has become more problematic for Haaland’s arrival and Arteta’s approach to training at City has changed massively since the Norwegian’s arrival.
In previous years, Arsenal were constantly drilled with the classic Guardiola cut-back: the winger gets to the byline, dives towards goal for someone to finish. Now, City’s ability to change passes into the box and how they can be more direct makes the life of a defensive manager a little bit harder come matchweek.
“It can be pass, pass, pass, but what they really want is for you to play man-to-man and then throw the ball over your head,” one source complained. “You can’t plan for them now.”
