The Manchester City manager was in a defiant mood following his side’s third defeat in a row.

Pep Guardiola has called on his Manchester City players to ‘follow’ him after Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon.

The shock Champions League defeat follows in the wake of losses against Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth in the last week, meaning City have been beaten in all of their last three games.

There is concern around the City camp at present, with Bernardo Silva admitting the team are in a ‘dark place’. But amid the poor run of results, disappointing performances and worrying injury record, Guardiola sent a rallying cry after the defeat in Portugal.

“Now is a difficult moment in terms of results but I'm here. I want to be here,” the Catalan told TNT Sports. “I want to fight and not give up. I like this challenge that as a manager I have ahead of me, and who wants to follow me, follow us, they will be there.”

Despite the negative result, the post-match stats read favourably for City. The Blues amassed 73 percent possession, had 20 shots and managed more than double the number of Sporting’s passes.

After a dominant opening 35 minutes, Viktor Gyokeres pulled one back before the break, before City conceded two in the first four minutes of the second half. It was a blow the 2023 Champions League winners couldn’t come back from, and Gyokeres’ late penalty sealed his hat-trick on a memorable night for Sporting.

Asked for his verdict after the game, Guardiola replied: “Cannot say much when you lose 4-1. Congratulations to Sporting Lisbon for the game.

“We make a fantastic first half, now we are struggling to score with what we create and concede when the opponents don’t do much.”

“The first half was really good from my point of view. We scored a goal and we create a lot but every pass, the simple things we missed sometimes, they can run and punish us a little bit.

“It can happen. After the third and the fourth we have to avoid it. Emotionally we were not stable enough and in this competition you have to be stable. At 2-1, many things can happen. We cannot give away the third and fourth goal. We have to be emotionally more stable.”

City’s defeat sees them drop to sixth in the Champions League league phase, although they’re likely to slink further down the table following Wednesday’s games.