A merchandise stall fire at the Etihad Stadium ignited just hours before Manchester City’s key match with Club Brugge. Situated near the Colin Bell Stand, the stall was set alight by a gas canister blaze that r led to the evacuation of the area.
As security staff steered fans clear, the incident unfolded while Manchester City’s January acquisitions. Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, and Vitor Reiswere being presented outside the venue. The players, ineligible for the Champions League game, could only witness as the evening’s fixture hung in the balance.
With their prospects of progressing relying on a victory over the Belgian team, Pep Guardiola emphasised the importance of the upcoming game: “The situation that we have is that we have to win the game and if not we will not continue in this competition.”
He continued, facing the high-stakes match with optimism: “We want to have another chance to play another two games, to have the chance of the next stages. It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity.”
The intended 8pm kickoff was suddenly shrouded in uncertainty due to the unforeseen emergency, reports the Mirror.
He remarked: “These type of games I’ve played many times. Sooner or later you have to play them where if you win you go through and if you don’t you go out.”
“We are here for the reasons we know, that we have not been good enough, and this is a situation we have lived many times.”
City, currently 25th and in the elimination spots ahead of Wednesday’s fixture, have only managed two victories from seven matches – a disappointing run compounded by heavy defeats to Feyenoord and PSG.
Having last failed to progress beyond the group stages of the Champions League back in 2012, when the competition had a different format, City must now navigate past Brugge. Following this crucial encounter, they will face off against Arsenal at the weekend.
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