Last year in Leipzig, Pep Guardiola took the unusual step of addressing his players on the pitch after their Champions League game.

Manchester City had drawn 1-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie and had been up against it in the second half, yet the manager told them to hold their heads up high. He took that fighting attitude into his post-match interviews, where he ridiculed expectations that they would win these sorts of games 5-0.

City had won the same fixture 5-0 the previous year against Sporting, and would go on to beat RB Leipzig 7-0 in the second leg of their tie so perhaps that is why expectations were so high. When his team are on song, there are few that can live with them.

Guardiola, though, was acting and reacting to the situation he faced. City were struggling for form when they headed off for that game and encouragement was the chosen motivational tool for his players just as the media tactic was to talk up how tough the competition was.

When push comes to shove, City bosses trust Guardiola to choose the right tactics and find the perfect blend to inspire another victory. That is why he is the best coach in the world, finding solutions to overcome any injury issues or shortcomings in the transfer window.

As City head to Leipzig again, the stakes are nowhere near as serious. They can afford to lose this game and still qualify comfortably for the knockouts and they sit top of the Premier League.

At the same time, two defeats have highlighted some of the issues facing a City squad that is both unfortunate to be depleted by injuries but also depleted more than they could be as a conscious choice between Guardiola and sporting director Txiki Begiristain.

The decision to take the Carabao Cup less seriously was fine, yet undermined by losing the subsequent league game at Wolves. Making things worse, the performance with a weaker team against Newcastle was arguably better than with a stronger side at Molineux.

A number of players are struggling for form. Erling Haaland could have scored twice as many already this season if he had been sharper, while nobody put their hand up in Rodri's position at the weekend and Jack Grealish is yet to find his form again after injury.

Defeat at Wolves felt like too many issues rearing their head to result in a disjointed performance (as well as a second yellow for the eventual matchwinner that wasn't given) and plenty of that is on the players. As much as they have a responsibility to stop the losing run at two, the onus remains on Guardiola to find the magic combination that will create that.